Gundam Build Fighters A
by Solus Ortis
Summary: The path of life that is "Gunpla Battle" exists in even America... watch as a team forms wishing to reach the top of that world.
1. Chapter 1

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 1**

**The Beginning**

* * *

_The people of several worlds have all had the desire to see the stars and spread their wings as they fly through them. This desire… no this dream was expanded upon with the first Gundam series, but it evolved with the invention of the Plavsky Particle Generator. Then it was revolutionized by the world-wide sensation "Gunpla Battle" where people from the four corners of the world fight to prove the Gunpla they've build with their own hands as the strongest of them all. You're already familiar with the still ongoing story of the teamwork between Sei Iori and the mysterious boy Reiji, but allow me the honor of telling you another story about a team to be starting with a young man who has just finished a difficult task._

"Phew…. two weeks of labor and I'm finally done." the young man said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with fingers covered in spray paint and bandages.

_The young man…. a teenager in his 15__th__ year to be specific has light colored skin, average height, with short wavy crimson red hair, and green eyes. His choice of clothing consists of a dark blue blazer with white stripes, a plain black t-shirt, blue-jeans that are somewhat too long for him, and white sneakers. He's sitting at his computer desk in his bed room having just finished putting together a Gunpla of his very own._

"My Zeta Gundam is finally complete….. though I better clean myself up before I test it out after school tomorrow." The boy thought as the happy grin on his face was as clear as a sky with no clouds

_This one of many iconic mobile suits from the Universal Century era was built with the intent to look like the cover on the box in which it came in, however built as intent it was not. Even though it doesn't have a single battle to its name this Zeta Gundam looks as if it's already been put through the ringer with pieces of the internal frame being exposed, sections of armor either flat out broken off or whittled down from…. something, its signature glider cracked on the left side, and its equally signature beam rifle has a gash extending from its barrel to the opposite end that was likely caused by a small knife or some kind of pick._

"Alex it's time to get up and get dressed for school, so hurry up because I still have a meeting to get to!" Alex's Father yelled.

"What are you talking about dad? It's still…" Alex was saying as he opened the blinds of his room.

_The reason this hopeful Gunpla Battler… or builder depending on your preference stopped midsentence was because the moment he opened his blinds, Alex was somewhat blinded by the sun's light that shone through his window._

"Arghh! It's morning already?! Okay….. forget about taking a shower…. just grab a clean pair of pants, your Gunpla, and your backpack and just go." Alex thought as he didn't realize he was actually saying his thoughts out loud.

"Sigh…. you stayed up all night again didn't you?" Alex's father mumbled as he shook his head.

_While Alex's father was driving him to school, Alex himself was already in the middle of a daydream as he stared out of the window of his father's car thinking about all the kinds of battles he'd have with his Gunpla along with already considering potential upgrades._

"I can feel it in my gut….. after building 27 different Zeta Gundam Gunpla this will be the one that leads me to the championships… one way or another." Alex thought.

* * *

_The first half of a future team has said his piece, so now it's time to move on to who will take the position of being his other half. The next bedroom we're going to visit is far larger compared to Alex's bedroom let alone the second floor of his house, of which to be specific the former of the two is as big as a medium sized apartment and given its luxurious design its resident must be someone of a wealthy disposition. Speaking of its resident… like Alex a teenage girl is sitting at her desk working on a Gunpla of her own design as well._

"Oh darn it… maybe I should have put the Arios's arm on a stand before I started doing this." a teenage girl thought as she carefully moves a tiny paintbrush across the highest point on the underside of this Gunpla's right arm.

_Unlike Alex's 'interestingly' put togehter Zeta Gundam, this girl's Arios was successfully built to look exactly like it does on the box it came in save for the orange to crimson red and white to black paint job._

"Thank god…. for a second there I thought I'd have to repaint this again, but I guess the third time's the charm." The teenage girl thought as splatter from a brush she dropped nearly landed on her freshly painted Gunpla.

_This ever dedicated teenage girl has bright purple hair up to waist length, deep ocean blue eyes, and a medium sized bust. She's currently wearing a pair of pajamas themed after the Zaft red coat uniform from Gundam Seed._

"Lady Emika, breakfast is ready, and since you were so caught up in your Gunpla construction I've prepared a change of clothes for you." a maid said as she walked into Emika's room pushing a cart filled with food in one hand and carried different pieces of clothing on a hangar in the other.

"Oh I was up all night again wasn't I?" Emika curiously asks of her maid.

"Yes…. quite frankly I don't know if I should be impressed or concerned about how you can stay awake for two days and not look tired in the least." The maid said in a calm monotone voice.

"Guess I better change then…. I'll just leave the cart outside my door like usual." Emika said as she stretched her arms and straightened her hair.

"Lady Emika, do you intend to fight with that particular Gunpla?" the maid inquired.

"I wouldn't have built it if I didn't." Emika retorts.

"I understand why you're willing to do so despite the risks invovled, but your mother…. she'll never approve of you taking part in that aspect of your hobby." The maid pointed out.

"Whatever…. could you please leave the room so I can change?" Emika requested.

"Of course, however the reason I chose to bring that up was because I thought it prudent to warn you your mother has decided to ride with you to school in the limo on her way to work this morning." the maid said as she brought her fingers to her nose as if she were adjusting an imaginary pair of glasses.

"Dam…. guess I should hurry up and march to the beat of the devil's drum." Emika said clearly irritated by that news.

_To further prove the apparent wealth Emika comes from, she stares intently at her mother a woman that still dresses as if she were young despite the gray hair while grabbing the case she holds her own Gunpla in as if her finger were on the actual trigger of a beam rifle._

"I understand that you stayed up all night again playing with your hobby again correct?" Emika's mother inquired.

"Yes mother." Emika said as she was too nervous to give more than a two word response.

"I know that you realize why a person in your position can't be taking part of a children's past time of a game." Emika's mother pointed out.

"It's not just a children's game not to me, not to a lot of people, and if I have to risk that to take part in it I will." Emika retorts.

"That's enough… I don't appreciate you talking back to me your own mother in such a way. I'm beginning to wonder if it was a mistake for me to allow you to build these toy robots… despite my admitting involvement with its development." Emika's mother said as she was now shaking her head.

* * *

_Certainly the chaos that comes with family matters is an interesting subject within itself wouldn't you say? I'm sure you all realize that these two will cross paths eventually, so for the sake of that fact I'll skip ahead to one such occasion in order to build up the curiosity on how the world's events lead up to that aforementioned moment. Alex for particular reasons I'll reveal another time had just won a Gunpla Battle using Emika's different color schemed Arios. Surprised by his performance and wanting to reclaim her Gunpla she walks up to him._

"Wow I can't believe the way you fought with my Arios." Emika said in amazement.

"That's right… you forgot it here before you left so I…." Alex was saying.

"It's alright… I'm used to my mother doing something like that." Emika retorts.

"I'm really also sorry for using your Gunpla without permission. I had no intention of doing so." Alex explained.

"After the battle you showed me I don't really care about that. Say I have a suggestion….. between your control skills and the build quality of my Gunplas we could take nationals easy. Of course I would have to watch you fight a few more times so I can make adjustments accordingly. What do you think?" Emika asked all wide-eyed like a total fan-girl.

"My answer's no." Alex quickly and bluntly answered.

"Wha…" Emika responds obviously not expecting that answer.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Alex: Wow I wonder what happened between the end and the beginning.

Emika: So do I, and I'm wondering the specifics on how you got my Arios.

Alex: The school day's just starting, so I guess there's one way to find out.

Emika: I guess there is.

Alex: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "A Faulty Frame"


	2. A Faulty Frame

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 2**

**A Faulty Frame**

* * *

_People can take a game seriously because their life isn't on the line. Maybe some of you recognize the similarity of these words, but the point is it's not that people don't understand the seriousness and brutality of war but rather they simply don't want to. Thankfully…. this is not a tale or a world where death is a common occurrence. Now it's time to see which of our two protagonists shall take the first step into the world of this tale. I think… ladies first shall be the best possible choice in this case. Anyways, the limo in which Emika was riding in during the last chapter had just arrived outside a very prestigious looking school. To be specific the prestigious nature of this school is such that it's where parents that make up to the high millions or low billions send their children. Why it really looks more like a mansion in the middle of a forest with several facilities a distance away from it._

"Now I don't mind what you choose to do as a hobby, but do try and act like a prim and proper lady while you're here." Emika's mother….. politely orders as her daughter exits the vehicle.

"Whatever you say, mother." Emika retorts as she motions to close the limo door behind her.

"Wait a moment… I still have something to say." Emika's mother interjects as she blocks her daughter from closing the limo door.

"Ah I'm sorry mother. What is it?" Emika inquired.

"Do you consider yourself above the simple act of giving your mother a hug before you go off to school?" Emika's mother said as she stretched out her arms to her daughter.

"Have a nice day mother." Emika said as she gave her mother a quick hug once she was sure no one was looking.

"Now be on your way as I don't want you to be late on my account." Emika's mother said.

_If this were a Japanese high school I'd have written the whole transfer student introduction bit with the fellow student curiosity package as a bonus; however I'm going to skip that segment as that's not the case. Emika is now sitting at the seat in which she was assigned to for one of her classes, of which she's also eating her lunch while reading a book about Gunpla Building Theory._

"That's stupid… if you whittle down the waist joints like that you're only going to…. oh wait never mind I see what the author meant." Emika mumbles to herself as she turns to the next page in her book.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, but is that a copy of the 5th edition of Universal Century Gunpla Building Techniques by Eustace Elchart?" a fellow male student at this school asked.

"Yes it is actually, and although he's a lesser known author because of his abstract building techniques…" Emika was saying as she turned away from her book to address the person that was speaking to her.

_And as Emika looked up she saw a young man perhaps a year or two older than her with green eyes, navy blue hair, and bangs that reach to the bottom of his eyes. His choice of clothing consists of a dark blue-green t-shirt, a dark brown pair of pants, and a matching pair of functional yet black pair of leather shoes._

"Those techniques themselves are able to build at least national quality Gunpla in the right hands, however the reason he's not more widely known is because his abstract techniques are difficult for even the most ambidextrous builder to use." The older student interrupts like he knew what Emika was going to say.

"That's not actually what I was going to say, but really? They are a bit difficult I'll admit, however I never considered them to be that hard. Wait a second, you look exactly like…." Emika was saying as her mind fully grasped the appearance of the person she was talking to.

"Let me guess… I look exactly like Athrun Zala from Gundam Seed correct? I get that a lot, and just to fuel the irony my name is Athrun Castleton. I'm a junior here at Clancy Academy. Anyways, for you to say that so nonchalantly you must be a skilled builder yourself." Athrun interrupts again.

"Athrun-senpai, my name is…." Emika was saying.

"I'm sorry….. senpai?" Athrun said clearly confused by that use of Japanese terminology.

"Ah a term we use back home to address older student or students of a higher grade." Emika explained.

"I see… anyways I'm sorry for interrupting you so much, but I know who you are. Your name is Emika Kurihara, and you've just transferred here from a school Japan after your mother Suiko Kurihara President and C.E.O of the Kurihara Technical Development Corporation came to America to expand the family business." Athrun said as he interrupted Emika yet again.

"I don't know if I should be impressed or disturbed by the fact you know so much." Emika said in honest amazement.

"Clancy Academy takes a great deal of pride in keeping accurate records about the history of each its students, but they stop at the door when it comes to our personal lives. Like the school, I would like to think of what I'm doing now as a common practice where students help transfer students settle into the flow of things. I also believe this is especially true for international students. I see now given your clear interest in Gunpla why the school's staff asked me to do it." Athrun explained.

"What does our mutual interest have to do with anything?" Emika curiously asked.

"I'm actually the president of our school's Model Building Club, and we even have twenty fighters on our official team." Athrun explained.

"Okay that explains a lot." Emika mumbled.

"Since it actually happens to be a half day… would you like to see our club room? That is unless…. you've already made plans for the day." Athrun politely offers to Emika.

"Yes… I think I would enjoy that very much actually." Emika said as she accepted Athrun's offer.

_After a few minutes of walking down the golden crown molding of this school's fancy hallways and well maintained walkways, Athrun shows Emika to a three story building the size of a small office building._

"Wow… for a club with only twenty members that's a pretty big building." Emika said in amazement.

"Oh… you must have misunderstood what I said or maybe I didn't explain myself properly. Either way you see most of the school's teachers and students even if they aren't builders or fighters themselves are major Gunpla Battle fans, so to keep things manageable we have strict entry requirements to join the club, but we actually have more than 20 full time members." Athrun explained stopping just inside the club building's entryway.

"Then what did you mean by 20 fighters?" Emika curiously inquired.

"The entry requirements for joining the club change depending on what type of member you want to be. Not counting the members we have purely to manage the club there are the students who want to join to improve their control skills as a fighter, their skills as a builder, or both. To actually join the club you would have to prove you have some ability as a fighter, a builder, or again both if you think your skills are up to the task." Athrun explained again.

"Say I was interested in joining for a moment… how exactly would I go about do that?" Emika curiously asked again.

"As a fighter prove your ability by defeating one of our members, as a builder get the approval of 3 of our club's top builders, and for both do both as you'll have more and a higher bar of expectations to deal with." Athrun answered.

"What are exactly their responsibilities of each member then?" Emika asked yet again.

"We have the fighters go through a variety of training exercises in addition to sparing matches against one another with the goal of winning while inflicting the minimal amount of damage possible. I say to defeat your opponent without 'killing' them is because I believe that takes real skill to do. When I said 20 earlier I was referring to the club's 20 strongest fighters who represent Clancy Academy in single and team scholastic tournaments." Athrun explained.

"And those that join as builders?" Emika asked yet again.

"Well for starters we have the lesser experienced members build Gunpla we donate to less fortunate children for charity. It makes a little boy or girl smile, and helps our members work on their basic skills. Then to help fund the club's activities, our members of an intermediate skill level will for a small fee repair Gunplas that have taken damage beyond their owners ability to fix on their own. Last we have the more advanced builders act as a pit crew for the club's top twenty fighters getting their Gunpla back in fighting shape as quickly as possible like it were a real life or death battle in one the different Gundam Series. I know it seems like we're strict for doing all that, but all the members have fun and find the extra work to improve their skills really rewarding." Athrun explained.

"Wow you run your club like a small army." Emika said in amazement.

"But we're not trying to be stuffy like an actually army or commit atrocities like the Titans as it's all in good fun really, but enough talk… let me show you inside and introduce you to the few members that are here today." Athrun said as he guided Emika further inside the building.

"Why would only a few members be here today? From the way you described everything you have the club run like a well oiled machine." Emika pointed out.

"That's because the inter-school national qualifier tournament is going on today, and most of the members are either competing or showing their support. The only reason… hold on we're taking a left here. Anyways, the only reason I'm not there myself is because I accidently damaged by Gunpla during some routing maintenance and I'm waiting for the replacement parts I need to fix it to be delivered. Besides… even in the off chance we don't make it in this qualifier tournament there are still two more after that." Athrun explained.

"Okay, but… actually I'm just going to stop talking and let you show me around." Emika said as she remembered her mother's wishes for her to be more lady like.

_After a few more minutes of walking around, Athrun leads Emika to a medium sized lecture hall where there is a male student working on repairing two different Gunpla while a female student is performing some system checks on the 3D image projector used for Gunpla battles._

"We use this room primarily for Gunpla lectures. We have another room of Gunpla Fight Tables down the hall primarily for practice or exhibition matches." Athrun said as he explained the purpose of this room.

"Oh hey Athrun, I see you're back from showing that transfer around. That a hopefull new member?" the male student asked as he gave only a slight glance up from the Gunplas he was fixing.

"Hopefully, but she's actually the transfer student I was asked to look after. How are the system checks for the table going?" Athrun said answering the male student before asking the female student a question.

"We can use this table 2 or 3 more times before we have to call someone to replace the 3D image rendering node in the central Hexagon." The female student answered in a blunt monotone tone of voice.

"I see, we better get that taken care of before next week. Anyways, come up to the front guys and let me introduce you to the international transfer student from Japan." Athrun said as he got the attention of the two other members of the model building club that were here.

"Hello I'm Emika Kurihara and it's nice to meet all of you. I hope we can all get along." Emika said as she offered the club members a respectful bow.

_It should also be noted that Emika's statement just now is what's expected of the typical transfer student bit, but again that's not important right now._

"The guy over there is Todd Auburn and he's the club's second best builder next to me. Then the bundle of emotion over here is Alice Guide. She's the club's 5th best builder, 3rd best fighter, and she maintains the equipment we use to maintain our Gunpla in her spare time." Athrun explained.

"You there, let me see your Gunpla." Alice asked in a blunt if not a somewhat rude manner as she pointed to the case attached to Emika's hip.

"She means well I swear, but that's just how she is around potential new members…. that is if you're interested in joining of course. Anyways she'll warm up to you as she gets to know you." Todd interjects.

"No it's fine… I don't mind… showing her my Gunpla that is." Emika retorts.

_The moment Emika set down her Gunpla on the 3D imaging table, Alice took out a small magnifying glass that she later explained she always keeps on her to examine the Gunpla built by potential applicants._

"This GN-007 Arios Gundam with an impressively done by hand original paint job has no noticeable battle experience, in addition there are no signs of any special customization past the expected differences between builders, however the few noticeable scratch marks indicate this particular Gunpla was built with the techniques expected of Universal Century Gunpla which emphasized minimizing the reduction effect increased armor has on speed, and the barrels of the twin beam rifle have been reinforced with a dense polymer that I don't recognize…. It passes the entry requirements." Alice said a few minutes later.

"Wow….. I've only seen Alice praise someone like that maybe only two times, so you must be a skilled builder. Still if that Gunpla hasn't been broken in yet why don't you test it here? I'm sure Alice wouldn't mind being your opponent." Todd suggests.

"I do mind…. I'm in the middle of installing an upgrade to my Gunpla's thrusters, and it'll be another day or two before the glue dries." Alice interjects as she wiped the sweat off her face with a hand towel.

"As do I because I heard there's an Arcade at a mall about thirty minutes from here with a few Gunpla Fight Tables, so I was planning to go through a trial run there. Actually… I should get going now that I think about it if I want to make the bus." Emika explained.

"Allow me to walk you then. Contrary to how Clancy Academy comes across to the general public, we're all not a bunch of arrogant high-born gits prancing about our parent's private yachts though I don't deny there are those who fit that description either." Athrun says to Emika.

* * *

_With the first part of this tale written in stone…. or technically typed deep in the back of some internet server as the case may be… it's time to see how the tale of our male protagonist is going to start as he goes about his own school life. Specifically I'm going to start with where they left off as Alex's father drives him to school in his car._

"I see you still haven't given up your dream of reclaiming your title." Alex's father points out as he glances over to his own son holding the Gunpla case in his hand as if it were his own child.

"Not a chance dad. Despite that accident slowing me down a bit, it'll take way more than that to stop me." Alex said with an almost happy go lucky smile.

"Ah geez make it harder on me why don't you?" Alex's father said as if his son's response to his earlier statement was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"What do you mean dad?" Alex asked as he was confused by what his father meant by what he said.

"This is something I should be telling you while we're at home, but you should just give up your dream about winning the Gunpla World Tournament. If you could be where you were before the accident then maybe you would have stood a chance, but now it's just impossible in your condition." Alex's father said as didn't like one bit to have to tell his son to give up on his dreams.

_After being put into a state of irritation beyond the fact that Alex's own father doesn't believe in him and his dream, filled with anger Alex gets out of his father's car at the first stop light as he hoisted his backpack over one shoulder._

"Alex, are you crazy? What are you doing?" Alex's father asked surprised by his father's strange behavior.

"I'm not giving up on my dream… no matter what you or anybody else says. Just go ahead and drive to work dad, however I'll be walking if you're going to act that way." Alex said as he vented his frustration at his father.

_Compared to the prestigious school Emika attends, Alex's is nothing more than a somewhat underfunded and definitely overcrowded public school. It's just a tightly packed group of buildings save for the school's quad where most students meet for lunch, and the rest walk to different buildings via outdoor hallways. Like with Emika, I'm going to skip the daily routines of the school and head straight to afterschool where Alex is enjoying his lunch while he's putting back together some pieces that fell off his "Questionably" built Gunpla._

"Oh for the love of… why won't you stay on the holders?" Alex asked himself as he tried to get his Zeta Gundam's beam sabers to snap back into place in its storage area for them on the hips.

"Maybe if you didn't grind down the connecting joins here so much… you wouldn't be having this problem." A student suggested.

"If I did that Brandon, they would kept sliding backwards and hit the glider attached to the Zeta's back." Alex said without even looking up from his Gunpla due to apparently knowing the owner of the voice.

_Contrary to the male sounding name, Brandon is actually a red headed female with short hair, a yellow half jacket with the yin/yang symbol on the left side, blue eyes, and a black pair of pants._

"This one's more of an improvement over your last Zeta Gundam then I expected." Brandon pointed out with the intention of complimenting her friend.

"But it's still horribly built despite what words of confidence I said when I finished it, and as such I'd be creamed in an a low-level tournament." Alex said letting a sad look on his face slip through for just a moment.

"What's with the long face man?" Brandon asked with clear concern over her friend's mental dispisition.

"My father said I should give up on Gunpla and though he didn't actually say it find some other kind of hobby." Alex explains to his friend not noticing he had somewhat of a sad grin on his face.

"Well you should…" Brandon was saying.

"Just do what your daddy said and give up on it. Someone with your shitty building skills wouldn't even make it past the first round of a shop tournament." An arrogant sounding young man said.

"What do you want?" Alex asked this arrogantly young man clearly displeased by his presence due to apparently knowing him as well.

_Once Brandon and Kevin turned to their right, they saw another student of whom they knew to be a bully to other kids and much to their intense mutual dislike a fellow Gunpla Fighter/Builder by the name of Aden. Then standing right next to Aden are two of his goons, henchmen, or cronies… whatever you prefer to call them really._

"Easy meat… I wasn't done talking yet. A member of the country's Elite Four shouldn't be hanging around such a weakling, and instead should be hanging out with me…. a real man and a real fighter." Aden said in such an arrogant tone of voice.

"Elite 4 boss?" one of Aden's goons asked confused by his boss's use of that term.

"Seriously… you don't know who they are?" Aden said as he smacked his underling on the side of his head for his lack of knowledge on the subject.

"Sorry boss, but I'm still learning the who's who of the Gunpla world. I've been so focused on the guys from other countries that I forgot about our own." the underling in question said as he tried to rub the pain away.

"Sigh….. okay I'm only going to explain this to you once, so listen up. You're at least familiar with the whole Elite 4 thing for the Pokémon games right?" Aden inquired of his idiot underling.

"If not…. They're the top four trainers of a region second only to its champion. Brandon here is a member of the American Gunpla scene's current Elite 4 with their only better being her older brother the current America Gunpla champion." Aden's other underling interjects.

"You idiot… you're making me look like an idiot." Aden said as he wacked his other underling on the side of the head as well.

"Sorry boss… didn't mean to." Aden's other underling said as he too tried to rub the pain away.

"Anyways for you my other imbecile…. another member of the Elite 4 lives here in this city like Brandon and her brother while the other two live in Oklahoma City and New York City respectively." Aden's other underling interjects.

"Geez I'm flattered but no thank you….. bad boys are so not my type, and besides I've seen you fight before so I know for a fact Alex's control skills are way better than yours." Brandon says nonchalantly.

"Oh… challenge accepted. Alex you me afterschool, the Blitz arcade at the mall after school, and bring your shitty Gunpla so I can take it apart but if you can't do it today let me know because…" Aden was saying.

"You'll understand if I'm too much of a coward to fight you. Was that what you were going to say?" Alex interrupts.

"Wha… no don't interrupt me. I was going to say that if you can't do it today, I'm willing to go at it whenever it's convenient for you. Yeah I'm a bully and I have no trouble admitting that, but when it comes to a Gunpla Battle I'm willing to be more flexible." Aden said as he cracked his knuckles though not in an intentionally threatening manner.

"I'll admit….. that's not the reaction I expected, but you do know it's only a half day today right? Still that's not a problem as I have nothing to do right now, so we can go there right now if it's convenient for you." Alex said accepting the bully Aden's challenge.

"Wait hold on a second…. you don't stand a chance. You said it yourself that your Gunpla is horribly built." Brandon points out trying to get her friend out of what she thought to be a foolish course of action.

"I know that, but I still have to accept the challenge." Alex answered without even looking at his friend.

"Why?" a surprised Brandon asked.

"For someone that's supposed to be one of the country's Elite 4 Gunpla Fighters…. you sure don't understand how a Gunpla fighter thinks. Or maybe it's a man thing. Well regardless out of my pride I'm challenging Alex to prove my strength." Aden said answering Brandon's question and proving that he has some wisdom when it comes to the pride of battling.

"Sometimes a great soldier is discharged because of what is technically a minor injury or disease, but they still have the ability to do their job despite this. I want to prove this true for me for the sake of my pride." Alex followed.

"Arghh why did you two have to say something so cool? Fine fine I'll withdraw my complaint, but don't say I didn't warn your Alex." Brandon said as she reluctantly shook her head.

* * *

_Blitz with no intentional reference to the Gundam by the same name is a dark colored arcade filled with black carpeting, along with equally dark gray colored tiles with white specks on them, and this arcade is brightly lit to suit the décor so as to give the customers the experience that they're playing their favorite game in space. The Gunpla fight tables as I'll continue to call them until an official name is given in the anime are located in the back of the arcade with small bleachers set up so people could sit and enjoy the carnage. Then Emika of all people after taking the bus here is talking to an arcade employee apparently assigned to manage the fight tables._

"Yes can I help you miss?" the Blitz Arcade employee asked.

"This is um my first time at this mall let alone this arcade, and this is probably a stupid question but is this where I can have a Gunpla Battle?" Emika asked.

"Yes this is madam, but there are a few people ahead of you. You're actually very lucky… more people are usually here by now from the nearby schools on a half day, so you shouldn't have much of a wait. You can pass the time by watching the fights ahead of you or by playing a few of the other games we have at our fine establishment." The Blitz Arcade employee answered in such a way that shows he's a good one.

"I'll just sit and watch the ….Hmm pardon me, but why aren't these two other tables being used?" Emika curiously inquired of the arcade employee.

"They're down for standard maintenance and won't be ready for use until tomorrow. Could you please write down your name on this waiting list? I'll call you up as soon as it's your turn." The Blitz Arcade employee explained before passing Emika a clipboard.

"Okay…. done." Emika said as she passes the arcade employee his clipboard back.

"Please enjoy the battles." The Blitz Arcade employee said with a smile.

_Once Emika found an open seat between a couple of girls in the upper part of the bleachers, she took out her Arios Gunpla holding it tightly like a young child would their favorite stuffed animal. Once her confidence was restored, Emika looks towards the working Gunpla Fight Table only to see Alex and Aden standing in front of it._

"Out of what little respect I've just gained for you from what you said back at school…. I'll offer you this one chance now to back out, so this way your Gunpla doesn't end up cut into pieces." Aden said.

"Can't we just skip the pre-battle smack talk and get down to business?" Alex retorts with a confident grin.

"Please set your GP base." The OS of the fight table said in a familiar robotic tone of voice.

_The moment these two set their GP bases, they lit up with bright blue lettering revealing who they are and basic information about the Gunplas they'll be using. As I've described earlier Alex is using his 'Questionably' built Zeta Gundam, and ironically Aden his opponent is using a bright orange RX-110 Gabthley with no obvious signs of specialized customization._

"Beginning Plavsky Particle dispersal." The OS of the fight table announced.

_Like on both fighters GP base's they're surrounded by bright blue holograms in all directions, with each screen either being the measure for some kind of gauge, a view screen to show the fighters what their Gunplas are seeing with their own eyes, and floating in front of these two are two bright yellow spheres used as controllers. _

"Field 7, Cavern." The OS of the fight table announced again.

_Now the Plavsky Particles give shape to the arena in which these two shall due battle in the form of a cavern filled with stalagmites, stalactites, roads and building. Why if I didn't know any better I'd say this place looks exactly like the deep interior of Jaburo._

"Please set your Gunpla." The monotonous OS of the fight table set yet again.

_Like it was previously described, Aden places before him his bright orange_ _Gabthley as a flash of blue light passes over it, gives it life, and allows it to raise its head on its own to which Alex does the same with his Zeta Gundam._

"That's one of the mobile suits developed by the Titans during the Universal Century. Now let's see what this other guy will play." Emika thought.

"Alright…. keep calm because it's my turn." Alex thought as he placed his Zeta Gundam before him.

"Looks like we have a real battle of ideals going on… wait ha ha that's the most poorly built Gunpla I've ever seen." Emika laughs not realizing how loudly she said the latter part of her sentence.

"Who said that?!" Alex yelled clearly irritated as he overheard Emika's statement, but was apparently unable to tell exactly where it came from.

"Oh I can't believe I said something so rude out loud." Emika thought clearly embarrassed and feeling guilty by what she so rudely mumbled earlier.

"Battle start." The OS of the fight table said at last signaling the start of the action portion of this chapter.

"Pay attention or this battle will be over as quickly as it started!" Aden yelled as his Gabthley flew into these holographic caverns.

"Wha.. tch Zeta Gundam launching!" Alex yelled as he got his head back on the battle while his Gunpla flew out of its holographic catapult.

_These two fighters carefully navigate the maze-like caverns, roads, and military buildings as they look for each other with the intention of bringing this battle quickly to a close. Alex is carefully moving his Gunpla from building to building finally entering the more 'cavern' parts of the cavern as he tries to tread through an underground river on foot._

"Okay… even if I could use the Zeta in its fighter form these caverns.. . I'd have little room to move, so that means Aden will have the same problem." Alex thought as he contstantly glanced between his view screens for signs of his opponent.

"You're thinking that I can't fly through here in my Gabthley very well aren't you? Well you are right I can't, but I'm sure you remember how Zeon got some of their forces inside Jaburo when they tried raiding this place during the One Year War." Aden said with a very confident grin.

"Oh crap." Alex blurts out.

_Alex has the Zeta Gundam turn on the afterburners so as to avoid any danger hiding in the river, and he's thinking about just where Aden will come from as he looks down at the river from above._

"I see you, and you felt for it! I may have brought that up, but I never said that's what I was going to do!" Aden yelled deciding to pick up the pace.

"Shit… shit… shit where is he? Above…. below… behind!" Alex thought as his instincts told him where Aden was.

_Alex turned around in time to see Aden coming, but not soon enough to get out of the way as the last thing he saw through the eyes of his Gunpla were the claws of the Gabthley's mobile armor form as it ripped of its head. The shock from this damage reverberated throughout Alex's Gunpla causing it to literally come apart at the joints._

"Battle Ended." The fight table's automated voice said as it started to shut down and the plavsky particles began to disperse into nothingness.

"Arghh god dam it…. but it's still an improvement over the last one if nothing else." Alex sighed as he tried to regain his composure and take something good from all this while collecting the remains of his Gunpla.

_Seeing that the battle had ended Emika decided to get up from her seat and move closer to the fight tables in hopes she'll be called up very soon. After all in this world the thrill of a Gunpla Battle is something that's very hard to resist._

"Aww the guy tried, but I can't believe he felt for such an obvious trap. Then again I'm a total beginner so I probably would have felt for it as well." Emika thought as she straightened out her hair.

_Now Emika was about to sit in a newly open seat on the bleachers right next to the Gunpla Fight Table where Aden and Alex happen to have fought. Then all of a sudden Emika's mother appeared grabbing her daughters arm while wearing a more casual dress to blend in with this crowd of commoners as she would call it._

"There you are… I know you talked to me about it, but I didn't think you'd actually do it. I swear if the Model Building Club president didn't tell me where you were who knows what would have happened. I've told you countless times that you're strictly forbidden from fighting in these Gunpla Battles. Come on…. We're going home right now." Emika's mother said as she started to drag her daughter by the hand.

_Like a child that refuses to leave the zoo because they're having so much fun at it, Emika resists her mother's pull because she still wants to see the Gunpla Battles however mundane they'll be rage on._

"Stop fighting… or you're only going to make it worse for yourself." Emika's mother said like a cop trying to get a struggling perp to submit.

"Wait… mom I dropped my Gunpla." Emika plead as she reached her hand out to try and grab her Arios Gunpla that landed on the seat she was sitting on.

"Oh no you're leaving that here… it's best you quit this cold turkey right now." Emika's mother retorts as she continues to pull on Emika's arm.

"Middle school kids… what can you do?" Brandon mumbles to herself as she finally took notice of Emika's valiant yet futile struggle against her mother's wrath.

_Once Alex finished collecting the broken pieces of his Gunpla, he turned around and walk up the seat sections of the bleachers like they were stairs so he could sit next to his friend Brandon._

"Well I've certainly just made a complete ass of myself. I do hope the event of my humiliating defeat won't damage your illustrious reputation as a member of the Elite 4." Alex said as he wanted to throw off the pain of his defeat with some light humor as he continued to walk up the bleachers towards Brandon.

"You can stop it with the chivalrous gentlemanly act. You can't pull that one off ei… wait don't move!" Brandon said as she suddenly sat up from her seat.

"What is it?" Alex says with concern as he tries to balance himself on one foot.

"Below you right foot… look." Brandon said as she pointed to the aforementioned space with her left hand.

_After Alex carefully placed the leg he had hanging freely in the air back on the ground, he saw that Brandon was pointing to Emika's red and black Arios Gunpla that she dropped earlier._

"Someone's Gunpla must have fallen out of their case." Alex mumbled as he picked up the Arios Gunpla.

"If its owner hasn't freaked out yet… they soon will be once they notice their Gunpla has gone missing." Brandon pointed out as she and Alex examined the Arios in detail.

"It's a bit heavier than I expected, but that's probably due to using heavier connecting joints to take care of the stability in flight issue Arios based Gunpla usually have. Here why don't you take a look?" Alex said as he passed Brandon the Arios.

"Yeah I see what you mean, but you should also take a look at the weapons. Who ever built this must be pretty good to build its basic armaments with this level of quality." Brandon retorts as she examined every nook and cranny of the Arios.

"What are you looking at?" Aden asked having become curious over what Alex and Brandon were huddling over.

"Oh it's…" Alex started saying.

"Wait you've had such a well built Gunpla this whole time and instead you fought be with that piece of crap Zeta? You weren't taking me seriously at all were you?" Aden said interrupting Alex as he came to the wrong conclusion from this situation.

"Wait, no this isn't…." Alex was saying as he tried to explain the situation.

"If you're going to say it's none of my concern then don't . I want a rematch right now with you using that Gunpla. Come on people… that last fight was so humiliatingly bad. I say my opponent deserves a chance to redeem himself. What about the rest of you?" Aden tells Alex before rousing the crowd's attention like he was his own Char Aznable.

"I'll give up my turn, so go right ahead." A young Gunpla Battler said falling for Aden's charismatic speech.

"This Gunpla is really well built…. Even if it's only once it could be the only chance I'm ever going to get to fight the way I want again." Alex thought as he put serious consideration into using Emika's Gunpla.

"Alex, don't do it. You can't just use someone else's Gunpla without asking them. Do you realize how mad its owner will get if you damage it?" Brandon said as she read Alex's thoughts like a book.

"Then if that happens and the owner comes back… I'll get on my hands and knees and beg for forgiveness." Alex said in a serious tone of voice.

"Arghh dam you for saying something so cool again. Fine… I'll say it again… don't say I didn't warn you." Brandon said as she reluctantly decided to let him do what he wants.

_Alex still decided to unknowingly use Emika's Gunpla, and is now standing right back at the Gunpla Fight Table he was using before. All the while Aden is standing across from ready to fight for his falsely injured pride. The Plavsky Particles have already dispersed leaving these two fighters in anticipation of what field they'll be doing battle on._

"Field 1 Space. Please set your Gunpla." The automated voice of the fight table said.

"I can do this… I can prove I'm still a fighter." Alex thought as he placed Emika's Gundam on his GP Base.

"Battle Start." The automated voice said signaling the start of the rematch.

"…. Gundam Arios launching!" Alex yelled.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Brandon: That wasn't the result I was expecting.

Alex: Neither was I, but now I have to return my…

Emika: Our Gunpla.

Alex: Yeah… wait what are you talking about?

Athrun: Let me see…. exactly what your new Gunpla can do.

Emika: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "A Completed Existence"

Alex: Arios Zeta, I'm taking off!


	3. A Completed Existence

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 3**

**A Completed Existence**

* * *

_Alex had a bad defeat at the hands of Aden's Gunpla, but he was given a chance to redeem his loss when he decided to fight Aden again in a rematch using the Gunpla Emika dropped just before her mother dragged her out of the arcade. Just how will Alex manage to win with a Gunpla he's never fought with before? How does Emika feel about such an embarrassing occurrence I wonder? We'll all find out the answer to both together eventually, but for curiosity's sake the first shall be the latter of the two questions. As Emika and her mother are caught in a suburban traffic jam, Emika's mother is 'lecturing' her daughter on the significance of her actions._

"I mean seriously, how could you do something so stupid? I've mentioned on several different occasions that you're strictly forbidden from taking part in these Gunpla Battles." Emika's mother yelled.

"Why… why is it so wrong that I want to fight in a Gunpla Battle?!" Emika yelled rather harshly at her mother as she could no longer hold back her feelings on the subject.

"You of all people should know exactly why you can't! For one there was when you ruined that boy's career as a Gunpla Battler, then there is what I'll do to you, and then there's the real reason you can't take part!" Emika's mother yelled.

"You don't need to remind me about the first thing because I still have nightmares about that, and forget your punishment along with whatever the doctor said! If it takes me risking death to know what it's like in a Gunpla Battle then I'll do it!" Emika screamed.

"You don't know what you're saying." Emika's mother retorts.

"Yes I do! If I truly have to carry on with the family business so be it, but I'll do so on my own terms and not yours!" Emika screamed as she motions towards the limo door.

"Where are you going?" Emika's mother demands to know.

"I'm going to get my Gunpla back!" Emika yelled again as she got out of the limo.

"Come back here right now young lady!" Emika's not very angry mother yelled.

"Please still be where I dropped it, and if someone picked up… please let them be a good person as well." Emika thought as she continued to run down the suburban streets.

* * *

_Phase 1 of the operation is complete, and now…. it's time for phase 2 as we continue where the last chapter left off. To be specific it'll be set to just before when Alex and Aden's rematch was about to start._

"Field 1, Space." the OS of the fight table said.

_Imagine that you're seeing the stars right before your very eyes, but not in the form of a realm of peaceful existence that one would hope. This particular section of starts is filled with the debris from destroyed mobile suits and ships, then there's the husks of abandoned ships scattered all over, and there is even the occasional space rock that has happened to flow in._

"Please set your Gunpla." the OS of the fight table requested.

"I hope you don't waste my time with this rematch." Aden said as he placed his Gabth

ley on his GP Base.

"We'll see one way or another." Alex retorts as he did the same with Emika's Arios.

"Battle Start." The OS of the fight table said.

"Gabthley is heading out!" Aden yelled.

"Gundam Arios, launching!" Alex yelled.

_Despite borrowing a Gunpla of a superior quality, Alex can't help but proceed out of the gate slowly out of caution. Once that was out of the way, he carefully circled around space rocks and other debris as he searched for his opponent stopping behind one of the smaller asteroids for cover._

"Alright…. now where is he?" Alex thought.

_Suddenly alarms started sounding as Alex received an alert on his control interface indicating that his opponent was somewhere above his position._

"Being cautions is all well and good, but it won't win you fights!" Aden yelled.

_Aden opened up the battle by first firing the two mega particle guns mounted on his Gabthley's shoulders, but Alex dodged with the Arios in a graceful manner akin to ballet and did so by spinning somewhat while keeping his leg low like he was going to sweep someone of their feet. Then Aden fired a shot with the Gabthley's feyadeen rifle, however Alex dodged the attack in the same manner as before._

"Given those moves you really are a Zeta Gunpla user, but you can't win moving the Arios like that." Aden said as he fired volley after volley with his rifle and shoulder mounted weapons.

"As much as I hate to admit he's right about that, so let's see what this twin beam rifle can do." Alex thought as he brought out the aforementioned weapon to use.

_Once Alex starts firing of a few volleys in return, Aden instinctively moves out of the way to dodge but after a few more shots he starts to notice Alex is missing him by several meters or rather inches since they're model kits instead of mobile suits._

"He may be doing better, but this guy's aim sucks." a young boy observing the fight said.

"It can't be helped… he's trying to control a Gunpla he's nowhere near being use to." Brandon points out to the young boy as Alex and Aden continue to trade shots.

"What do you mean?" the clearly confused young boy asked.

"He's horribly accustomed to using the Zeta Gundam's beam rifle, so as a result his posture for holding the weapon is off and his reaction to the recoil is all wrong." Brandon explained to the young boy.

"Oh I see." the young boy retorts.

"Actually if you look closer you'll see Alex is becoming more accurate with each shot." Brandon points out to the young boy again.

_After several more minutes Alex realizes he isn't going to damage Aden from a distance. Aden himself may be in the same situation, but it's more like he's humoring his efforts rather than having difficulty with them._

"Alright…. let's see if all those hours of playing Ace Combat haven't caused my skills to dull too much." Alex thought as he switched the Arios over to its Fighter Mode.

"Oh so you want to make this a battle of speed do you? Alright…, but I'll still hunt you down like a bird of prey!" Aden yelled as he did the same with the Gabthley.

"Let's see if you can keep up!" Alex yelled potentially starting a chain of witty banter.

_Alex forced his controls as far to the right as they could go with the intention of flying the Arios using a corkscrew maneuver into a tight collection of destroyed mobile suit remnants, the husks of smaller ships, and a few meteors to boot but what happened instead was that the Arios was doing a barrel roll as it spins wildly in the direction Alex wanted to go._

"Shit I put way too much torque in that spin." Alex thought as he struggles to get the Arios leveled.

"I think I'll play shoot the spinning bottle!" Aden yelled as he fired off another shot from his long barreled beam rifle.

"Can't dodge….. Wait….. please still have the GN Beam Shield in the shoulders." Alex thought as he pressed a button on one controller multiple times to change weapons.

_Regardless of if any of you are familiar with Star Fox 64 or the Nintendo 3DS remake, Alex through a combination of his inadvertent multiple rotations and the Arios's GN Beam Shield deflects the beam and sends in through multiple abandoned shuttles creating bright purple explosions._

"Now's my chance to get some distance." Alex thought as the multiple explosions blocked the line of sight between himself and Aden's Gabthley.

_Rather than having a repeat of his "Multi-barrel roll" incident, Alex instead has the Arios fly directly into the collection of small asteroids, ships, and mobile suit debris just as Emika arrives back at the arcade to reclaim her currently unknowingly being used Gunpla. What Emika finds most interesting is that there weren't as many people playing the other arcade games as when she was here earlier. _

"Excuse me, but what's going on?" Emika asked as she stopped a girl close to her own age just as she was running by her.

"Supposedly there is some really interesting Gunpla Battle going on in the back of the arcade. If you'll excuse me, I wanna see the fight too." The girl explains to Emika before resuming her running pace.

_Emika decided to see what all the hubbub was about as well, and managed to force her way through the crowd just in time to see Alex have her Arios dive straight down the side of one abandoned ship risking grinding the underside of the Arios on the exterior as Aden continues to pursue._

"That turn… it was sharper than any Arios I've ever seen do. Wait….. that's my Arios!" Emika thought first in amazement and then shock.

"Come on, you son of a…. just lean your head over the precipice so I can shoot it." Alex thought as he aimed the Arios' forearms straight up.

"Gotcha… oh crap!" Aden yelled as he realized he felt for the trap Alex set for him.

_At that moment, Alex fired off what seemed like a near infinite amount of shots from the GN Machine Guns built into the Arios' arms. Aden's Gabthley was able to move out of the way preventing his Gunpla from taking the brunt of the attack, but not without getting its right arm and leg hit though nowhere near enough to prevent those limbs from being used. _

"Now where did he go? Wait…. wasn't there supposed to more hull here?" Alex thought as he was backing the Arios against the side of the ship.

"Idiot, look behind you!" Emika yelled.

_It doesn't matter or not if Alex heard Emika, but he turns around to stare in the darkness none the less only to find Aden's Gabthley flying out of it with its undamaged arm already pulled back for a punch._

"Let me show you what a few months of kick boxing can do!" Aden yelled.

_Alex pushed gently on the Arios's thruster and was able to dodge Aden's punch, but it was so gently such that he wasn't able to maneuver out of the way before Aden sent him flying inside the husk of a ship with a spinning kick._

"Eat this!" Aden yelled.

_Compartments on the Gabthley's shoulders open up revealing 10 missile tubes between the two of them, and along with its 3 beam weapons Aden fires it all into the darkness obliterating the remains of the ship and hopefully Alex along with it._

"Let's see how you do with the tables being flipped!" Alex yelled.

_Alex uses the force of the explosion to propel the Arios in its fighter form around the center of it, and then it switches back to its Mobile Suit form with a beam saber already drawn to strike at Aden from above._

"Too slow!" Aden yelled with his own beam saber already drawn in response.

_With the Gabthley's free hand, Aden has it punch the Arios right in the face sending it back several feet or again technically inches, and follows up with a kick right to where the cockpit would be if this were a real mobile suit sending it flying into the husk of another ship. _

"Time to end this!" Aden yelled.

_Aden has the Gabthley fire off a round from its two mega particle guns, its Feyadeen rifle, the missiles in its shoulders, and several more hidden in its legs at the Arios for the sake of finally ending this battle. As the light from the husk's explosion covers Aden's face through the Gabthley's view monitor, Aden himself has a clear smirk of victory on his face as he's that confident in the fact that's what he's just achieved._

"I'll admit you put up a pretty good fight for an elongated game of cat and mouse, so now I'll just wait for the OS to declare my ….. how are you still alive? That should have destroyed your Gunpla completely." Aden said to Alex once again out of shock.

_As Aden said that he was referring to the fact that when the smoke cleared he saw the Arios with its shoulders and the active GN particle shields attached to them facing forward. It's clear that those shields took the brunt of the attack, but not without cost as there are obvious dents or small portions melted off._

"I'm sorry…, and I'm grateful." Alex said as he was looking at the ground as if he was shook up by shock damage.

"Amazing…. I didn't think the GN Beam Shield could be moved in such a way. Building skills aside, just how good is this guy." Emika thought as like most of the crowd watching the battle she was filled with excitement at Alex's survival.

"Like you I consider myself a serious Gunpla Battler, and as such you deserve an opponent who takes you as seriously, so I apologize the horrid performance I showed you so far in this match and our previous one." Alex explains to Aden.

"Oh… and why are you grateful?" Aden curiously asks.

"I'm grateful… because for me to have finally figured so quickly how this one single Gunpla fights… it's something what would have been impossible if you weren't strong in your own right. I'll pay you back right here right now by showing you my true strength!" Alex yelled as he raised his head and opened his eyes revealing them to have a serious expression.

_To Emika at least, it seemed as if the pupils of Alex's green eyes once he opened them shrunk to the size of a small pebble and their iris grows to the size of a small ball._

"Is that SEED mode? But that's impossible this isn't an anime… no it's just my imagination playing tricks on me." Emika thought as through her eyes Alex's returned to normal after she rubbed her eyes a bit.

"Interesting… Go ahead and back it up if you can!" Aden yelled.

_Alex switches the Arios back over to its fighter form and fires off every weapon it can as it closes the distance between Aden's Gabthley, of which he was caught off by how accurate the shots were but was for the most part able to avoid them. Then Alex follows up his attack by switching back to mobile suit mode firing the Arios's twin beam rifle and beam submachine gun in his free arm, afterwards he switches back to fighter form to repeat his earlier attack pattern, and alternates back and forth between the two._

"Sorry, but you'll need way more than that!" Aden yelled as he fired off another volley from his Gabthley's three beam weapons as Alex was charging at him in fighter mode.

_Alex quickly switched the Arios back to mobile suit mode, and fired off two shots from its twin beam rifle to nullify the shots from the Gabthley's shoulder mounted guns then the Arios switched back over to fighter mode riding over the shot from the Gabthley's rifle like a monorail as it resumed its charge at the shooter._

"You're not getting me that easily!" Aden yelled as he flew below the Arios and fired off another volley.

_Rather than the previously used grandiose combination of techniques, this time around Alex had the Arios make only the least amount of movement necessary to dodge as it continues the charge. No matter how much Aden tried to shake him off, Alex was able to constantly stay on his tail as he closed the distance and in one fell swoop using both of the Arios's beam sabers he cut off the Gabthley's arms._

"It's over!" Alex yelled.

_Through a maneuver that's a combination of a swinging pendulum and a back flip, Alex gets the Arios behind Aden's Gabthley and like he's done a few times to him he sends Aden flying via a kick to the back. Just before Aden could stabilize himself in response, Alex shoots him right through the center. The melted plastic suddenly glows a bright orange for a few moments before the Gabthley explodes, of which at last brings this battle to a close._

* * *

"Battle Ended." The OS of the Gunpla fight table said before it shuts down.

"Ahhh ha ha ha!" was the sound of the cheer that the collective of people watching this fight made in response to Alex's victory.

"So I've won huh? Still this feeling may be closer, but…. it still isn't the way I want to be. It still isn't the way… I want to fight." Alex thought ignoring the crowd's cheers as he stared at his constantly clenching fist.

_With the battle finally being over, Alex picks up the Arios and thankfully asides from the GN Beam Shields it has only taken a minimal amount of damage. Anyways he takes it over to the arcade's Lost & Found in hopes that its owner (Emika) will be able to find it here later not realizing that its owner (Emika) was following him._

"Hey you're that dude that just won that Gunpla Battle a moment ago. Anyways you were awesome man. So what can I do for you today?" the arcade employee asks as he stands up straight at the sight of Alex.

"I'd like to turn in this Gunpla I found near the battle systems in the back. Whoever owns it must of dropped it without realizing it." Alex explained as he placed the Arios on the Lost & Found countertop.

"Wasn't this the Gunpla you were using? You mean to tell me that it actually doesn't belong to you?" the now surprised arcade employee asked.

"No it doesn't." Alex answered.

"You realize that you can't just use someone else's Gunpla without permission right?" the arcade employee asked again.

"Believe me I already received that speech from a friend, and I wasn't planning to but things just got out of hand." Alex explained.

"Okay so long as you know. If the owner does come back looking for their Gunpla, do you want me to give you a message for them?" the arcade employee retorts.

"There's no need because actually… that was my Gunpla you used." Emika said revealing her presence to Alex and this employee.

"Ah in that case never mind about me turning this in." Alex tells the Arcade employee before handing Emika back her Arios.

"Thank yo…. What are you doing?" Emika was saying when all of a sudden Alex bowed lowering his upper body to the point where it was horizontal with the rest of him.

"I am well and truly sorry for what I've just done." Alex said interrupting Emika not even willing to look her in the eye.

"Sorry for what?" Emika asks clearly surprised by Alex's sudden behavior.

"First of all I almost stepped on your Gunpla by accident, then I used it in a battle without permission even if the circumstances were out of my hand, and I got it damaged during the course of that battle so again I am sorry." Alex said as he maintained his current position.

"Could you please raise your head before people start staring? It'll be really embarrassing if they do, and if anything I should be the one thanking you." Emika retorts.

"But I didn't do anything worth being thanked for." Alex retorts as well.

"You see I saw all of your first fight with that boy, and my first impression was that you were just an amateur. When I saw your second fight however, I was just blown away by the way you fought. It was just like how I imagined my Arios to move, but better. In fact it also reminded of how the winner of the second America Gunpla Championship fought in the final match." Emika said in awe of Alex.

"So even other people can notice the difference huh?" Alex thought as a variety of emotions swirled around the young Alex's mind.

"If anything I feel as though I owe you something for using my Gunpla. It would shame my family if I didn't do something to pay you back." Emika argued.

"You don't owe me anything at all, but just for curiosity's sake what would you do?" Alex retorts as he actually doesn't want Emika's supposed reward and really is just legitimately curious about what it would be.

"Hmm….. now let me think…. oh I know. Would it be alright if I took a look at what's left of your Gunpla?" Emika asked as the proverbial light bulb lit over her head.

"Alright." Alex said deciding to go along with Emika's train of thought.

_After Alex passed Emika his Gunpla case, she carefully examined each piece of what was left of his Zeta Gundam like she was a professional critic. Then after a few more minutes she clips the case to her own belt, to which indicates that she finished her analysis. As Alex watched her hands do so his eyes were drawn to a star shaped diamond which was imbedded in a golden clip, of which she had clipped on her own Gunpla case._

"So what were you thinking of doing?" Alex curiously asked.

"Well for one thing I noticed that there is still a lot of salvageable components, so I was thinking that I would….." Emika was saying.

"Thankfully the limo drove by here otherwise I wouldn't know where to look for you. Between when you ran off and now I received some very very good company news, so I'm willing to forgive your behavior from earlier. Don't try and test me or I won't be as lenient." Emika's mother said as she once more suddenly appeared grabbing her daughter's hand.

"Wait mom, but I have to…" Emika was saying.

"No more excuses we're going home right now." Emika's mother said interrupting her again as she once more again dragged her daughter by the hand out of the arcade.

"…..Hey come back here!" Alex yelled once the surprise caused by recent events passed a few minutes later.

_Following his yelling, Alex ran out of the arcade as well only to see Emika's mother who was a short distance away from him practically force her daughter into the limo waiting nearby. Yet that in itself was not the strangest part for instead of leaving with her daughter, Emika's mother for some reason chose to wait for Alex to catch up with them._

"I see you've recovered well from your experimental surgery 9 years ago." Emika's mother bluntly says to Alex.

"How do you…" Alex was saying as his eyes went wide eyed from shocked.

"If you'll excuse me I have to go." Emika's mother said interrupting Alex as she got in her limo and drove away.

"Son of a… I can't believe I just lost my Gunpla that way!" Alex screamed within the confines of his mind as he kicks the side of a building out of anger.

"Hey…. hold on…. let me catch my breath. Phew, geez I swear I don't get how you can run so fast. Anyways I saw part of what happened….. mind filling in the blanks?" Brandon said gasping for air after running up to Alex.

_And so Alex tells his friend everything that's happened such as giving the Gunpla back to its owner (Emika), his having a back and forth conversation with her, her mother dragging her off, but he leaves out the cryptic statement Emika's mother made before she left in his recounting of recent events._

"Now that you describe her…. I think that may have been the girl I saw earlier, but are you sure you saw a star shaped diamond on a gold clip?" Brandon asked having finally completely caught her breath.

"Yeah I'm positive that's what I saw." Alex retorts.

"Then we're in luck because I think that pin was one of the types of electronic student IDs they give out at that big wig school Clancy Academy." Brandon said after pondering the thought for a few moments.

"Okay… I'll ditch school tomorrow, break into this academy, and get what's left of my Gunpla back." Alex said with a seriousness that surprised Brandon.

"NO… you are not doing that!" Brandon urgently said.

"Well do you have any other ideas how a child of a middle-class family is supposed to get it?" Alex retorts.

"I have one that doesn't get you sent to jail if that's what you mean. From what you've told me about this girl she's likely a member of Clancy Academy's model building club. I know a student at the school that should be able to get us in to confirm." Brandon explained.

"This student a friend of yours?" Alex curiously asked.

"No, he's just a guy I know that goes there." Brandon answered.

"Then is he your Ex-bo….. oww okay… I admit it I deserved that one." Kevin was saying when Brandon stomped on his foot midsentence.

"Now do you want my help or not?" Brandon retorts.

"Sigh… make the call." Alex answers.

* * *

_Who is this mysterious Clancy Academy student/acquaintance of Brandon you ask? I'm sorry, but if I answer I'll be giving away a plot spoiler so I'm afraid you'll have to wait until later. Well a few hours later Emika still wearing her outfit from earlier has just finished the repairs on her Arios her room, and like her mother said she didn't punish her at all save for a stern lecture._

"Oh that guy's probably really angry right now. It won't be that hard to find out, but how will I make it up for this incident? Oh I know." Emika thought as she had another stroke of inspiration.

_Emika got up from her seat to walk up to a door that was seemingly built into the wall, but revealed when she opened them up several drawers filled with spare Gunpla parts from a variety of models._

"I know I should have enough spare parts for this around here somewhere." Emika thought as she searched through everything behind the door drawer by drawer.

_Once Emika found every little component she needed she returned to her desk, and pulled out of another drawer her model building tools along with her painting kit._

"Now to see… to see achoo!" Emika was mumbling to herself before dropping Alex's Gunpla case on her desk due to sneezing.

_Due to bad luck on Emika's part all of the remaining pieces of Alex's Zeta Gundam fell out of his case, but due to equally good fortune they all landed on her desk so she didn't end up losing a single piece._

"Oh great now I'm going to have to…. Wait if I move that here and here… then maybe…" Emika thought as she had another stroke of inspiration.

* * *

_The reason why Emika's proverbial light bulb went off again was that when she moved to pick up the pieces of Alex's Gunpla, she noticed that key sections of its remaining armor components either landed on or near her Arios Gunpla. In reaction to this, Emika started rearranging those components as if they were pieces of a jig saw puzzle and that she already knew what the full picture looked like in her mind._

"Alright… now I just have to whittle down the pieces to the right size and figure out how to attach them to the main body." Emika thought as she cracked her knuckles and got to work on whatever idea she just came up with.

_Unlike yesterday or technically the previous two chapters as the case may be, Emika was able to finish whatever she was working on without having to stay up all night. The following day at Emika's school Clancy Academy, Athrun wishing to be a good host has spent the morning showing her around the school and for a reason that has yet to be revealed he's used his authority as a club president to pull Emika out of class in the middle of the day._

"I appreciate what you've done for me today, but why did you pull me out of class? I mean I don't want to make you look bad." Emika points out to Athrun.

"I'll get to why in a moment, and don't worry; I already know what kind of rumors will start by my doing this. I just wanted to apologize if I got you in trouble with your mother yesterday. She seemed calm when she came into the club building looking for you, so if I knew she'd blow up like that from me telling her where you were I would never have done that." Athrun said as like Alex he bowed to Emika horizontally.

"Please raise your head I don't need to see someone do that to me again." Emika tells Athrun as she scans the hallway for any observers.

"Again? Well no matter, and I'll explain why I've used my authority as a club president to pull you out of class once we've gotten to the Model Building club building." Athrun explained.

"Okay I'll just follow your lead." Emika said.

_One 10 minute walk later, Athrun shows Emika into the very same lecture hall he brought her into yesterday only this time around it's nearly packed to the brim with people who are all likely members of the club. He shows her to a seat that he later explained he reserved in advance for her at the front of the lecture hall. Emika also takes note of the box right next to the lecture hall door filled with Gunpla cases labeled with the model that is inside them._

"Oh these are the Gunpla I mentioned we have members build and donate." Athrun explained taking notice of Emika's curiosity as he tossed a Gunpla of his own in the donation's box.

"What's going on?" Emika asked.

"You mean I didn't tell you about this yesterday?" Athrun said like he was surprised by Emika's confused look.

"No, and all you told me about was the way the club was managed not any of its events." Emika retorts.

"I swear…. I've been really forgetful recently. Well you see I or that is the Model Building club decided to invite three guests today. The first of which will be giving a lecture on Gunpla's code of ethics and psychological aspect of the sport. He's in the restroom at the moment so he should be here in a couple of minutes, and the second guest who I've asked Todd and Alice to meet at the front gate will fight in an exhibition match here right after." Athrun explained.

"You mentioned a third guest right? What will he or she be doing?" Emika inquired taking note of Athrun's failure to explain that part.

"Oh from what she's told me she's just here mostly for moral support for the second guest, and to assist with a short Q&A segment in the meantime." Athrun answered.

"Oh hey Athrun we're back with the guests, and check it out one of them actually climbed up the brick wall, fell over on the other side, and got up without a single injury." Todd said to their club president.

"The wall wasn't that high, but he was still an idiot for doing so." Alice interjects.

"I thought you said our club's other two guests were with you?" Athrun inquired.

"They are, and they should be entering the room right about….. now." Todd said as he stared into a watch on his left wrist.

_To Emika and possibly everyone else here, it was as if all of the other sounds around them were suddenly silenced as they heard two sets of footsteps reverberate across the club building's wooden floors as they heard them approach the lecture hall. The moment these two guests walked through the door the students watching gasped in awe at who one of them was. Imagine with your own eyes that you have a camera you're controlling quickly point itself at these guests._

"No way it's…." one of the club members was saying.

"It's Brandon Marsh of the Elite 4!" another club member said out of shock.

"Wait… who's that guy with her? It's definitely not her brother the champion. Why come here if it isn't with her brother?" One club member said to his friend.

"Easy there man, the captain wouldn't have invited him if he was some ordinary dude so let's see what he had planned." That club member's friend says back.

"Good point, but I can't believe we get to see a member of the Elite 4 fight right here. I'm so recording this fight." The club member says to his friend again.

_I'm sure you've already figured out that the second guest here is Alex given the student's reactions, but after so many years he doesn't let it faze him very much._

"Yup it's official…. no one is able to recognize me anymore." Alex said to Brandon as a slight amount of depression is able to faze him.

"Easy now don't start crying, so let's just do what we came here for. Do you see the girl from the arcade in here?" Brandon retorts.

_As if on cue with Brandon's every word the moment she brought up Emika, Alex was able to pick her out of the crown which was easy since she was you know sitting at the front of the class. Anyways, he stops only a couple of feet in front of her starting at her with a serious look in his eyes._

"I want what's left of my Gunpla back." Alex says to Emika in a tone of voice that matches the looks in his eyes.

"Oh you see well um…" Emika was saying unable to get a word out due to being more shocked by seeing Alex here rather than the rest of the room is to seeing Brandon here.

"Now now there's no need to have such a threatening look. I'm sure there's a story behind what you're implying so I'll make sure Emika doesn't leave, but why don't we deal with what you all promised to do first." Athrun suggests as he gets Alex to turn away from Emika and face him instead.

"Is this the guy you asked to help Brandon?" Alex inquired as he only glanced at his friend.

"Yeah, and allow me to introduce you to Athrun Za…. sorry I don't know why I keep doing that. Anyways, let me introduce you to Athrun Castleton the strongest member of the Elite 4 and second strongest in the country next to my brother." Brandon said as she fixed her name-flop midsentence.

"I'm Ale…" Alex was saying as he offered to shake hands with Athrun.

"Alex Thomas, and don't worry I already know who you are." Athrun said interrupting Alex as he returned his handshake.

"Have we met before?" a surprised Alex asked.

"Yes we have actually, but I can't blame you for not remembering." Alex answered.

"I see…. Say Brandon, what exactly did you promise to do? I mean there are a lot of people so it must be something pretty big." Alex asks of his friend again.

"Oh right um…. you see Athrun here would only let us in if you agreed to fight him one on one, and I kind of said you would." Brandon reluctantly explains as out of guild she can't look her friend in the face.

"What? Captain you aren't seriously going to waste our time by having us watch some amateur fight?" a shocked club member said as she overheard Brandon's statement.

"Yeah let Brandon fight instead. A battle between two members of the Elite 4 would be way more interesting." Another club member followed.

"Quiet! I asked him to fight because I believed it would help inspire all of you to improve, but if you don't like that fact you all can just pick up your Gunpla right now and quit the club! Nothing to say to that? Good, so try and behave more respectfully towards our guests." Athrun said in a booming, angry, and charismatic voice to his fellow club members.

"Anyways, I'm not afraid to accept your challenge but I don't have a Gunpla I can use." Alex explains to Athrun once again the shock of recent events passes.

"That won't be a problem. Did you finish the repairs and the upgrades?" Athrun tells Alex before asking Emika a question.

"How did you know I did all that?" a surprised again Emika asked.

"I'm a Gunpla Battler too remember? I've seen the shape of the bags under your eyes both in my own mirror in the morning, and in the faces of the other club members." Athrun answered.

_Athrun's ability to read people aside, Emika stands up and offers upon her own two hands her own Gunpla case and whatever is resting inside it._

"Please take it…. at least for this battle. This upgraded Arios is my own way of thanking you for yesterday." Emika said.

_Alex wanted to refuse Emika's offer with every ounce of his being because he knew it would be an insult to his own pride, but he took it anyway because he also knew the insult to Emika's pride that would occur should he refuse would be far greater._

"Your frame was shot to hell beyond all repair but the Zeta Gundam's armor, weapons, vernier thrusters, and wave rider were still in excellent condition. After scaling them down, reinforcing them with some stronger material, and after putting on a higher quality of anti-weathering paint I attached some of these components to the Arios. It greatly increased its defense, offense, and stability in flight but at the cost of somewhat reduced speed and mobility. Still all of its improvements more than makes up for that." Emika explained as Alex took a peek inside her Gunpla Case.

"I've heard all I've wanted to. Very well then…. I Ral shall be the judge of this battle." an old man said.

_All of a sudden standing in the door way throwing away a paper towel was an older man with a military style hair cut, gray brown hair, a gray brown mustache, and gray eyes. He had on a casual blue tux, with matching pants, and an undershirt with a purple collar. Everyone in the room except for Emika offered a respectful bow to him before resuming their own conversations due to her not knowing who he was._

"Though having never entered the world-championship himself, Mr. Ral is well respected by Gunpla Battlers all over the world for the strength of his convictions in battle." Todd explained to Emika.

"Thank you Mr. Ral for agreeing to be a guest lecturer for our club meeting today." Athrun tells the old man.

"I saw it as a chance for a free vacation, but it warms my heart to see even at places like this young people with a love of Gunpla Battles. Besides it's hard to refuse a request made by one of a country's top battlers. If you don't mind I'd like to see this exhibition match before listening to myself ramble on for an hour" Mr. Ral said to Athrun in response.

"Then in that case….. Alice, do you mind if I fight in your stead since Mr. Ral wishes to act as a judicial official?" Athrun said.

"No I don't... seeing as how you were planning this from the beginning. But I thought you were still waiting for your Gunpla's replacement parts to come in?" Alice answered.

"That's not a problem…. I'll just use the Gunpla I was going to donate to charity, and it'll be more than enough for this fight." Athrun retorts as he pulls a case out of the donation's box.

_As the news that Athrun another member of the Elite 4 spread across the school, more people who weren't even club members started to show up just to watch him work. Still it's a bit unfair that Alex won't be getting any love from the fans. Anyways let's get down to business._

"This exhibition match will be between Athrun Castleton of the Elite 4 versus the former US Gunpla champ and winner of the first Gunpla American Championships Alex Thomas." Mr. Ral announced to all those that were observing the battle to be.

"Please set your GP Base." said the battle system in this lecture hall.

"Wait…. it can't be him can it? Did he recognize me? If he does… no it doesn't matter because I could never be forgiven for what I did." Emika thought as the color drained from her face at the mentioning of Alex's name.

"Beginning Plavsky Particle dispersal." The battle system said.

"Tell me, with all of these people here to watch us fight up close do you remember who I am now?" Athrun inquired.

"Field 5, City. Please set your Gunpla." The battle system said.

"No matter… I'm sure this fight will meet that end regardless." Athrun retorts.

"Battle Start." The battle system said.

"Athrun Castleton Saviour Gundam, here I go!" Athrun yelled.

"Alex Thomas Gundam Arios Zeta, launching!" Alex yelled.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Athrun: I'd say your skills have dulled by a far smaller amount then I originally expected.

Alex: Flatter will get you nowhere.

Athrun: Perhaps, but the world of Gunpla has evolved since the time you were seriously part of it. Are you sure you can keep up by yourself?

Alex: I know I can!

Athrun: Then prove it, and cut me a member of the Elite 4 down!

Alex: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "A Completed Existence Part 2"

Emika: No… you're afraid to admit you can't do this alone.


	4. A Completed Existence Part 2

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 4**

**A Completed Existence Part 2**

* * *

_A tale about the gratuity of battle may be an interesting thing to write about be it the violence, the bloodshed, the comic relief, and even the nature of competitive battle as the case may be. Yet the prospects of battle shall not be etched into the first casted stone, but rather a glimpse of the past instead. To who's past are we glimpsing? The moment in time of the past in question is sometime after school ended yesterday, and the person it belongs to is Athrun Castleton. He's just arrived home from school to an apartment complex in a poorer yet not decrepit kind of neighborhood. _

"Sigh…. please don't tell me I lost my keys…. not again." Athrun sighed as during the search for his keys he finds a small pile of notes placed next to the front door of his home.

_Those notes that Athrun had picked up had things such as "Drop out cheater!" or "You don't deserve to be a part of the Elite 4!" written on them, but they were nothing he hadn't dealt with before._

"Oh I see your home dear. How was school today? I know I probably ask that too much, but I'm still proud of you for getting a full scholarship to Clancy Academy so please humor me." Athrun's mother asked as she opened the front door of the apartment from the inside.

"Save for preparing for the model building club's guest lecturer tomorrow and getting a unusual reaction out of a transfer student's mother when I told her where she was…. Nothing out of the ordinary." Athrun said after a momentary pause.

"That's good I suppo… wait I've seen that face before. You've gotten more of those strange notes again didn't you?" Athrun's mother asked.

"Don't worry as those slanderous statements never amount to anything. Hmm, but I thought you had the day off from work today?" Athrun explained as he asks a question in turn.

"I did as well, but one of my co-workers got sent to the hospital and I'm the only other person close by at the moment that can do his job so my boss called me in. Anyways I should really get going, but don't worry about dinner. I wrapped it in plastic and put it in the kitchen so warm it up when you get hungry." Athrun's mother explained before running out of the apartment building.

_The particular meal Athrun's mother was referring to was a small bowl of ham fried rice, but as this isn't a food themed story let's move on shall we? Anyways, Athrun sits down on a worn out couch with a warmed up bowl of the aforementioned meal after putting DVD marked "Gunpla American Tournament Finals" into a DVD Player. Then once he got comfortable he pressed play on a remote._

"…. of many national tournaments to come, but without further adieu lets introduce the two fighters that have made it to the final stage." One announcer said midsentence as the TV was filled with life.

"In the red corner we have who many say only lucked his way into the finals… give your hands up for Athrun Castleton!" another announced said.

"Then in the blue corner we have another young Gunpla prodigy who narrowly defeated Greco Logan the man originally expected to win. I give you Alex Thomas!" the first announcer well… announced.

_Contrary to how they are now the young Athrun has a more nervous yet still happy go lucky expression on his face, and the young Alex has a more brutal Setsuna like seriousness on his compared to the more casual though still serious expression he has now._

"Umm good luck." The young Athrun nervously said as he tried to get some pre-battle conversation going.

"Luck may be able to decide a battle, but I don't need yours." The young Alex retorts as he gets some pre-battle smack talk going instead.

"Please set your GP Base." The battle system said.

"And so the finals finally begin." The first announcer said.

"Field 2, Desert. Please set your Gunpla." The battle system said again.

"Will both competitors use the same Gunpla they've been using since the beginning? Or will they each use something completely different?" the second announcer said.

"Battle start." The battle system declared.

"Athrun Castleton… Aegis, heading out!" the young Athrun yelled.

"Alex Thomas Strike Zeta, launching!" the young Alex yelled.

_One would expect the final round of a national tournament to be an exciting duel, but that is not what happens here as after 5 minutes and carefully dodging a shot from the Aegis's Scylla energy cannon Alex destroys Athrun's Gunpla via a Hyper Mega Launcher built into its shield._

"Battle Ended." The battle system declared.

"There you have it… the winner of the first American Gunpla National Tournament is…. Alex Thomas!" both announcers yelled as the crowd of people watching went crazy with excitement.

"..ak." the young Alex whispered under his breath.

_As Athrun collected what little remained of his Gunpla he was shocked by the overwhelming difference in power, shocked by how easily he was defeated, and shocked by what he heard Alex whisper under his breath. No one else may have heard, but he knew Alex called him weak and that's why since then he's devoted hours upon days upon years to improving his skills so he's never that easily defeated again. Still, enough about the past because now it's time to move on to the future. Specifically right to the moment where Emika hands Alex her modified Arios Gundam._

* * *

"Please take it…. at least for this battle. The way I chose to upgrade the Arios is my own way of saying thanks for yesterday." Emika said partially embarrassed by the number of people staring at her.

_As Alex stared inside the Gunpla case he saw that the Arios was repainted to match the Zeta Gundam's original color scheme, the Zeta Gundam's outer chest armor replaced the Arios's outer chest armor, the Zeta's vernier thrusters in its shoulders were taken out then attached to the Arios's armor covering the shoulders making it somewhat like the Build Strike in that regard, and the GN Beam shields attached to its shoulders have been wrapped around the Zeta Gundam's shield which has been attached to the Arios's left arm. One of the Zeta Gundam's grenade launchers has been attached to the Arios's submachine gun in its left arm, of which it can now rotate around allowing it to switch between the two weapons, a grappling wire launcher is now attached to the other arm, the Arios's twin beam rife is hooked on the back, the wings on the Arios's legs have been removed to make room for more of the Zeta Gundam's vernier thrusters, and finally the Zeta Gundam's waverider has been scaled down and attached to the Arios's back. _

"Even someone like me can tell this Gunpla is strong despite how it looks." Alex thought as he took the upgraded Arios in his hands.

_Then the ever famous Mr. Ral reveals himself after a long trip to the bathroom, and in response Athrun declared himself to now be Alex's opponent in the promised exhibition match._

"So wait some random kid is going to be that cheating club captain's opponent instead." One student who came her e to observe this fight said.

"Dude what's wrong with you? It's completely rude to falsely accuse the president." Another student said after slapping the first one on the back of the neck.

"Yeah right 'falsely accuse' my shiny metal… well whatever. Look there's no way you haven't heard the rumor's either. Surely you've heard about how most of Athrun's opponents during the first national tournament had to mysteriously drop out for one reason or another?" the first student asked.

"Of course I've heard, but don't forget about the fact that he still continues to claim he's innocent in all that." the second student retorts.

"Yeah, and I've also heard about how he says the fact that he was paired up against most of the drop outs was just coincidence. Still I'm just going to shut up and enjoy the fight." The first student retorts in turn.

"Beginning Plavsky Particle dispersal." the battle system said.

"Tell me, with all of these people here to watch us fight up close do you remember who I am now?" Athrun inquired.

"I honestly don't mean to be rude, but I truly don't remember." Alex answered.

"Field 5, City. Please set your Gunpla." The battle system said.

_The Plavsky Particles had the reality of this battle take the shape of the colony Heliopolis, with the ever famous Morgenroete facilities being seen in the distance, the central axial shaft being seen in the sky, the huge support cables attached to it, and the other parts of the colony can be seen by staring into the sky._

"No matter… I'm sure this fight will meet that end regardless." Athrun retorts.

"Battle start." The battle system said.

"Athrun Castleton Saviour Gundam, here I go!" Athrun yelled.

"Alex Thomas Arios Zeta, Launching!" Alex yelled.

_Not wishing to waste any time these two start off the battle by having their Gunpla clash with one another using their beam sabers with an overhead slash here or a jabbing thrust there, and with each clash small shockwaves among flashes of light which can be seen from a distance are generated proving just how much power are behind their attacks._

"You really are strong… I'm sorry, but I would have remembered someone as strong as you." Alex said as his and Athrun's gunplay face each other up close with the only light being generated by their clashing beam sabers.

"Then that in itself explains why you don't remember because the last time we fought I was as I'm willing to admit now weak." Athrun retorts.

"Really huh? Then allow me to see just how well rounded you've become!" Alex yelled as he has the Arios Zeta back off from the Saviour.

_Just as Alex fires three shots from his twin beam riffle, Athrun nullifies them with three shots from his own High-Energy Beam rifle as they continue to get some distance between each other. _

"Amazing if this is the ability of a Gunpla he built for beginners I wonder just how strong is his own Gunpla." Emika said in clear amazement of the battle going on.

"I'd watch what you wish for girly. It's fire power is ridiculous given the coloration to its size." Brandon tells Emika who happened to have overheard what she said.

"Testing me are you? Alright… let's see how you deal with this." Alex thought as he and Athrun continued to nullify each other's shots.

_Alex dashed between the city buildings as he worked his way around to where Athrun was, and even got off the occasional pot shot with one of the Arios Zeta's different weapons once his sights were lined up. As Athrun dodged the aforementioned attacks, instead of taking to the skies to find his opponent he stays on the ground just to see if he can overpower him through a similar method of attacks._

"Got you!" Alex yelled as he emerged right behind from where he thought Athrun would be.

"I could say the same!" Athrun yelled as this time he was the cat that caught the mouse in its trap.

_Realizing that he's walked right into another trap, Alex turns around only to find himself staring down the barrel of the Saviour's Amfortas Plasma Beam Cannons as they fire at him._

"Oh no… oh I hope he's okay." Emika mumbled to herself as Athrun's attack took a chunk out of a few buildings along with generating a small smoke cloud in addition to have hopefully taken out Alex.

"You do realize he's not actually piloting…. Anyways you modified the Zeta Gundam's original shield didn't you? As long as he had the time he needed to react, Alex will be just fine." Brandon said as she was that confident in her friend's survival.

"She's right young lady. Even if you can't fight beside your friend the least you can do is believe in his ability to win." Mr. Ral tells Emika.

"That seriously isn't all you can do is it?" Athrun asked.

_As if on cue Alex fired off a few shots from the Arios Zeta's twin beam rifle, of which though they missed their target it had the effect of pushing aside the smoke cloud covering him._

"No damage? How?" Athrun asked as he was in shock by this turn of events.

"You're going to have to ask the lady who build this because quite frankly I wasn't sure if I'd be able to come out of it completely unscathed." Alex retorts as he tilts his head backwards in Emika's direction.

"Between the Arios's GN particle shield, combined with the Zeta Gundam's solid shield in which I reinforced, and a coating of anti-beam paint acting a triple whammy of defense you're not going to break through it with a Gunpla meant for beginners." Emika said aloud as if to explain to all those that were curious.

"I see… then let's see what you can do in a dog fight." Athrun tells Alex after hearing Emika's explanation as he takes to the skies in the Saviour's Mobile Armor form to which Alex does the same with the Arios Zeta.

_As they now cross wings in the open sky of the colony, for the next several minutes Athrun and Alex's battle became a back and forth game of cat and mouse as they or rather at least Alex struggles to get into a firing position behind one another._

"Having trouble?" Athrun asks as he purposefully if not almost mockingly uses the least amount of movement necessary to dodge Alex's attacks.

"Tch… the difference in skill is making it impossible for me to get a solid hit in through conventional tactics. Then that means…. I have to think outside of the box." Alex thought.

_Going along with this unconventional train of thought, Alex takes the Arios Zeta as high as he can only to have its nose point straight back down particular right at the Saviour's flight path. He fires several shots, but rather to make Athrun descend instead of just plainly shooting him down. Whether Athrun knew what he was thinking or not didn't matter as he did just what Alex wanted. Once the Saviour dropped to the height he wanted, Alex had the Arios Zeta fly straight at him as if he was going to ram his opponent._

"A suicide attack? I didn't think you'd try something so foolish." Athrun said as he realizes what he thinks Alex is up to.

"Sure that might have worked, but this isn't my Gunpla so of course I can't try something so stupid." Alex said with a confident smirk.

_Alex switched the Arios Zeta back to mobile suit form letting the momentum he generated continue to carry him to the ground as he_ _drew both of its beam sabers._

"Ha ha defeating me by watching yourself fall to the ground as I rise to the top. I suppose that's ironic in its own way, but fine I'll take the challenge and see if I can stop it." Athrun thought as he found Alex's course of action very amusing.

_Athrun responds to this attack by literally rising to the top with both of his own beam sabers drawn willing to see if the battle will end with this attack right now or if it will end later._

"I'd say that after seeing you fight your skills have only dulled by a far smaller margin then I originally thought, but it still won't be enough." Athrun declares.

"If you mean winning this battle then…" Alex was saying.

"That's not what I was talking about. For the most part you've been out of action for 9 years. In that time the first generation of Gunpla Fighters have perfected their skills, in that time new prodigal fighters have emerged, and in that time new models of Gunpla have been released allowing for a greater number of combinations. All of this makes the expected level of skill at a national let alone world level even higher then what it was 9 years ago, so do you still think you can make it back to the top despite the way you are now?" Athrun inquired as he interrupted Alex.

"I know I can!" Alex yelled.

"Then prove it, and defeat me right now!" Athrun yelled.

_Imagine the TV screen in your minds have just suddenly darkened, then imagine a brown and a green jewel like seed spinning around descending to the center of it, and then both of those seeds bounce off of an invisible pond before exploding into a rainbow. The eyes of the owners of these two colors have changed shape as their pupils shrink and iris' grow._

"Their eyes…. Are these two boys coordinators?!" Mr. Ral thought as he was shocked by this event.

"There it goes again…. I really need to stop watching Gundam Seed over and over again." Emika thought as like Mr. Ral she dismisses this phenomenon as a result of her own imagination.

"I see you're going to show me the strength of your resolve. Very well allow me to do the same." Athrun declared as Alex had the Arios Zeta put away one of its beam sabers.

_As if to honor both their warrior spirit, Athrun puts away one of his own beam sabers as well while he and his opponent one more and for the final time put some distance between each other. It didn't matter whether or not any of the people watching this fight realized it or not, but Athrun and Alex fully intended to end the fight right here right now with one last attack._

"One more time and…" Athrun was saying.

"One more clash, so…" Alex was saying like he was finishing Athrun's sentence.

"We can see who's stronger!" both fighters yelled as they finally finished the sentence.

_The rest of the crowd soon sat in silence as they realized this battle was about to come to a close, and intentionally or not they knew it was best to be silent for this moment._

"Athrun/Alex!" both fighters said at the same time as they yelled each other's name, of which further proved their mutual desire to end the fighting.

_Time started to move in slow motion as these to Gunpla moved in on each other for the last blow, or at least that's how it looked to those watching especially Emika. Now, just as the beam sabers of both fighters were millimeters away from coming into contact with one another…._

"Warning: Plavsky Particle dispersal failure. Battle terminated." The battle system declared.

"What?!" both a shocked Athrun and Alex said.

_A few moments later the Plavsky Particles that surrounded Emika and Athrun's Gunpla quickly dissipated, and not wishing to waste any time both fighters jumped up on the battle system and ran to the other side so as to catch the Gunpla falling to the ground._

"Phew that was close. Alice what went wrong?" Athrun said in relief as he just managed to catch his Gunpla in time.

"It seems the rendering node was more damaged then I originally thought." Alice said as she already started running diagnostic programs on the battle system.

"I see. Sorry, but it seems like we'll have to finish our battle another time." Athrun tells Alex.

"As you say another time then." Alex retorts.

_Ignoring the people who gave an applause despite how the battle abruptly ended, Alex walked over to where Emika was sitting as he carefully held the Arios Zeta in his hands._

"Thank you for allowing me to borrow your Gunpla for this battle. You've truly built a strong machine with great potential." Alex respectfully says to Emika.

"After the battle I just saw I still feel like I owe you something. Say I have a suggestion. I realize this is sudden, but what if we team up? Between your control skills and my building skills we could take nationals and then the world by storm." Emika suggested.

"My answer is no." Alex said rather bluntly after taking a couple of minutes to think about it.

"Wha…" Emika mumbled as that was clearly not the response she was hoping for.

"I say no because of my own sense of pride as a fighter." Alex said like he already knew what Emika wanted to ask him next.

"Hey man you may not want to do it, but the least you could do is hear her out." Brandon said as she found her friend's behavior rude.

"With that Gunpla I could finally fight exactly the way I want to again, so I was tempted to take her offer but my pride won't allow it." Alex thought as if he didn't have the courage to tell his friend that.

"Yes well…. would you like to stick around for Mr. Ral's lecture?" Athrun said as he tried to defuse the awkwardness of the situation.

"Sure." Alex answered.

_I could write a whole segment on what I interpret to be Mr. Ral's opinion on Gunpla battles, but I won't as I may contort it with my own opinions so I'll skip all of that. As the sun sets upon Clancy Academy, Athrun stares down out a window in the Model Building Club building only to see Brandon and Alex's back. The Gunpla he was using is resting on a table behind him, and moments later the man himself is looking through a closet also in the same room of the window he was staring out of filled with Gunpla Model kits still wrapped in their boxes._

"Athrun, are you in here?" Todd asks as he opens the door and walks into the same room.

"I'm in the closet. What is it Todd?" Athrun curiously asks.

"Alice wanted me to tell you that she pulled a few strings, and will be able to get a guy from PPSE to fix the battle system in the lecture hall tomorrow." Todd explained.

"That's good, and tell Alice when you see her that I appreciate it." Athrun retorts.

"Sure no problem, but just what are you doing?" Todd curiously asked.

"I'm looking for another HG 1/144 scale model of the Saviour to replace the one I used in the battle earlier." Athrun answered.

"Why bother? This one is still…. in good condition." Todd said.

* * *

_The reason Todd said what he said was that the moment he touched Athrun's Saviour, it snapped to pieces in several places as if it could no longer handle the damage it took from the earlier battle in which it was used. Still like all things time must move forward and that's just what we'll do. To be specific, forward to early the following morning where Alex sweating and turning frantically in his bed like he was having a nightmare._

"Arghh!" Alex screamed as he was shot awake from whatever nightmare he was having while constantly turning over his hands like he was trying to make sure they were still there.

"Ding dong ding dong." Goes the doorbell.

"Oh who could be here this early?" Alex thought.

_Since Alex's father left early for work it was up to him to see who it was, so he quickly took a few minutes to make himself presentable and walked up to his home's front door. The moment he opened the door….. boy was he surprised when he saw who it was._

"How the hell did you find out where I live?" Alex said in a groggy shock.

"May I please come in?" Emika asked.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Alex: Okay start talking.

Emika: I'm rich, so it's not that hard.

Alex: None the less my answer remains the same.

Emika: Then I'll change it with a Gunpla battle.

Brandon: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "The Sickness of Battle"

Alex: A beginner like you won't be able to defeat me.


	5. The Sickness of Battle

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 5**

**The Sickness of Battle**

* * *

_Little did either Emika or Alex know, the foundation of a bond that will define the both of them has been placed down. The first step to build upon that foundation is to team up, so it should be simple right? You'd be wrong for after Emika offered Alex just that, he immediately turned it down without a second thought right after his battle with Athrun came to an unexpected end. He and his friend Brandon went home for the day, and once Alex went to bed he had a dream that delved into the deepest parts of his past. Imagine yourself looking at a six year old Alex smiling and walking with his father as he holds the championship trophy in which he worked so hard to earn in his hand. As to where he's walking to, it's his father's car for the long drive back home from the National tournament site._

"I still can't believe it son, it's only been a year since this whole battle system thing came out, and you've already earned the highest of honors. Let's hurry home so we can show your mother the trophy." Alex's father said

"My opponent for the final round whatever his name was wasn't very strong, but I have to thank my teacher for training me, my friends, and you dad for being here for me. I even heard there's going to be a world tournament in a couple of years, so I gotta train hard for that as well." The young Alex tells his father.

"Now that's not a nice thing to say, but good luck with that. Oh wait hang on we're going to cross the street up ahead." Alex's father said.

_As the father and son pair continued with their walk, they were caught off guard when a 5 year-old girl with purple hair suddenly ran between the two of them causing Alex to accidently throw his trophy into the road. The young girl ran to her mother, to whom was out of earshot for Alex and his father._

"I found your card mommy." The young girl said as she pulled out a credit card for rich people.

"You should really be more careful. Now let's go have you apologize to the people you bumped into." The young girl's mother said.

_Now the flow of time in this dreamlike state moves back a few seconds to just right after when the young girl ran past Alex and his father._

"Hey watch where you're going you brat!" the young Alex yelled.

"Now now Alex I'm willing to let it go since you've just won a major tournament victory, but please watch your language." Alex's father said.

"Oh, my trophy." Alex said as he jumped the barrier separating the sidewalk and the street.

""No Alex, are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Alex's father yelled as he went after his son.

_As Alex tried to jump the barrier, he lost his balance causing him to land in the road right next to his trophy._

"Good you're safe." The young Alex said to the trophy like it was a living being as he pushed it back on the side walk.

* * *

_The last thing Alex…. or rather the young Alex saw as his father grabbed him by the back of his shirt, was the wheels of an oncoming truck inches away from his hands as the truck itself tried to come to a screeching halt. Then as the truck was just millimeters away from Alex's hands his dream world went completely black._

"Arghh!" Alex yelled as the colors of the conscious realm filled his eyes as well as his hands for the sake of making sure they were still there.

"Ding dong ding dong." Goes the front door doorbell.

"Couldn't be dad since he had to leave for work way earlier than this. So who could be here this early in the morning?" Alex thought as he put quickly put on some clean clothes, so as to look presentable.

_Just before walking to the front door and just after he walked down the stairs, Alex turns on the TV and the coffee maker so as to keep himself awake in his tired state. Once he actually opened the door itself….. boy did he get quite the surprise._

"How the hell did you find out where I live?" Alex said with a annoyed face that's almost indistinguishable from his tired one.

_Standing right before Alex was Emika herself wearing whether made out of cheap materials or not a white sweater with a blue stripe across its chest, light blue pants, a budge under her sweater indicating it to be her Gunpla case, and her long purple hair has been tied in pigtails._

"May I please come in?" Emika asks completely unperturbed by Alex's expression.

"Yeah okay sure." Alex said opening the front door like he forgot the gratuity of the situation for a moment.

"Wow. So this is what a middle-class home looks like?" Emika mumbled like she really never saw such a thing before.

"It's not much, but it…. wait what just happened?" Alex whispered to himself as he realized he never actually wanted to let Emika inside.

"I realize I'm intruding, but would it be too much to ask for a cup of coffee if you have any and something to snack on?" Emika respectfully inquired.

"Yeah okay sure. You can sit down on the kitchen table just down the hall to your right." Alex said as he pointed in the described direction.

"Thank you." Emika said.

_A moment or two later, Alex quickly whipped up a slice of toast with butter to which he quickly gave Emika. Another moment or two later he's pouring her a cup of coffee._

"I wonder how much sur….. god dam I'm doing it again!" Alex thought as he realized that he unwittingly agreed to play host.

"Thank you." Emika said as Alex placed the cup of coffee in front of her.

"Okay I've gotten you your cup of coffee and your little snack. So answer this, how did you find out where I live?" Alex asks clearly annoyed by Emika's presence as he tries hard to hold himself back from stating choice words.

"Yes well it's not something I'm proud of flaunting, but in case you haven't noticed I come from a rather wealthy family. It wouldn't be that hard for me to grease a few palms." Emika explained.

"Rich brat a…." Alex said as he was about to say some rather choice words.

"But that's not how I found out because like I said that's not something I'm proud of flaunting." Emika revealed.

"Then how did you find out?" Alex inquired as he once more stopped himself from stating choice words.

"It was your friend… Brandon I believe her name was. Anyways, she forgot her phone at my school and I ran into her as she came back to get it. I asked and she told me who you were, where you lived, and even your cell number. Look I have it already added to my contact list. I would have called, but I wasn't sure you'd still be here." Emika explained.

_At first out of disbelief, Alex takes Emika's cell phone out of her hand to confirm her story. Once he saw that she was telling the truth, he immediately dialed Brandon's home phone number because lady or not he'd definitely say some choice words to her._

"Marsh residence, may I ask whose calling?" a young male on the other end of the line said.

"Jason, it's me Alex. Is Brandon there?" Alex asks apparently recognizing the voice.

"Must have done something to piss you off huh? Yeah she's here, so just give me a minute to wake my sister up." Jason answered.

_5 minutes later…_

"Morning… you realize it's like 5:30 in the morning right? Anyways what are you calling for?" Brandon asks as she comes on the line.

"Why did you give a complete stranger my personal information, my cell phone, and my address?!" Alex screams into the phone.

"Yawwwn tone it down alright. I take it that means that girl's over at your place right now?" Brandon inquired.

"Gee what do you think?" Alex retorts with a mixture of anger and sarcasm.

"Yeah…. I didn't think she'd actually go there that early when I told her all that stuff. Anyways promise me you'll hear her out, so let me know how it goes on school Monday bye." Brandon quickly says before hanging up on the phone.

"Don't you hang up on me!" Alex quietly, vociferously, and with anger says to Brandon just before she hangs up her phone.

"Is something wrong?" Emika asked.

_Alex doesn't respond…. he just releases his anger by banging his head against the fall with nowhere near enough force to cause harm of course._

"I'm fine… just go ahead and tell me why you're here why I'm still calm." Alex said as he took a seat across from Emika.

"Yes well I'd like you to reconsider my offer from yesterday. I know I said it yesterday as well, but with our combined talents there's no limit to what we can do." Emika plead to Alex.

"Before I answer, did Brandon tell you anything else about me asides from you know my contact information and address?" Alex asked.

"One or two things about your hobbies asides from Gunpla, but she told me to ask you myself if I wanted to know your personal history." Emika answered.

"Then you should know my answer remains the same as in it's still a no." Alex tells Emika.

"Then tell me why not?" Emika asked as she still didn't get the answer she was hoping for.

"Do you remember what Athrun said yesterday during our battle?" Alex asked.

_Imagine yourself seeing an opening of a window into the past. To be specific, that window shows the last clash of the battle between Athrun and Alex._

"I'd say that after seeing you fight your skills have only dulled by a far smaller margin then I originally thought, but it still won't be enough." Athrun declares.

"If you mean winning this battle then…" Alex was saying.

"That's not what I was talking about. For the most part you've been out of action for 9 years. In that time the first generation of Gunpla Fighters have perfected their skills, in that time new prodigal fighters have emerged, and in that time new models of Gunpla have been released allowing for a greater number of combinations. All of this makes the expected level of skill at a national level let alone world level even higher then what it was 9 years ago, so do you still think you can make it back to the top despite the way you are now?" Athrun inquired.

"I know I can!" Alex yelled.

_And the window to this flashback sequence has been closed, so it's time to get back to the modern day reality._

"Yes of course I remember." Emika said as we start the first line in this resumed reality.

"Then you should know that everything he said was absolutely true. Whether my skills have rusted more then he claimed or that the bar has been raised even higher, it doesn't matter because with the way I am now I might be able to slip past regionals, but I would be decimated at nationals." Alex explained.

"Which is why I'm suggesting we work together. With my skills as a builder I can cover for your weakness until you get the rust off." Emika pointed out.

"No, if I win the US national tournament and the world tournament beyond it'll be because I proved myself to be the stronger fighter with a Gunpla I built with my own to hands. That is why I won't stop making these rebuilt hands of mine build until they can move the way they once did." Alex fervently tells Emika.

"Rebuilt? What are you talking about?" Emika asked again.

"I've been nice long enough, so please leave while I'm still in a good mood." Alex practically orders of Emika.

_Realizing that she's overstayed her welcome, Alex shows Emika to the front door. She takes the first stop outside, but she suddenly stops and turns around to face Alex right after._

"Wait I just have one thing to say before I leave." Emika said.

"Which is?" Alex asks.

"You may have given up on yourself but I haven't, so I swear I'll do whatever it takes to get you to fight with me." Emika declared.

_Alex doesn't say a work to Emika, and only responds to her declaration by rather rudely shutting the door in her face._

"Because if I don't….. then I won't be able to atone for the sin I've caused." Emika thought as she leaned against the doorway.

"Foolish girl, I get where you're coming from by having us work together; but as I am now I wouldn't be able to contribute to a team effort. Besides… the truth is I'm just afraid of letting go." Alex thought.

* * *

_And so the sun and the moon rises and falls on this moment of emotion, day of remembrance, and weekend of longing bringing the world back to the classical concept of "I hate Mondays." The reason being that Monday is a school day of course._

"I can't believe you did that!" Alex yelled.

_The target of Alex's yelling was his friend Brandon as he's still rather miffed at her for giving away his personal contact information._

"Now now I did it for your own good. So tell me, how exactly are you two going team up?" Brandon inquired.

"It's not going to happen alright. Hmm, where's your brother Jason? I thought he'd be here with you today." Alex asks in response.

"He thinks he's caught a cold over the weekend, so he's staying home today to rest and don't try to change the subject. You may have refused, but did that Emika girl say anything?" Brandon asks as she and Alex stop in front of their lockers, to which are right next to each other separated by only one locker in terms of space.

"She said she wouldn't give up, which if I apply anime logic that means…." Alex was saying like he was almost reluctant to open his locker.

"What do you expect to find something in there or whatever?" Brandon inquired, curious about her friend's sudden stop.

"Yes." Alex bluntly answered.

"Really? Why?" Brandon asked.

"In these kinds of situations, there's usually three ways the main female character of a series gets you to cooperate with them." Alex explained.

"Which are?" Brandon asked as save for watching the different Gundam series, she herself is not much of an anime person.

"Blackmail which she doesn't seem like the type to do, then I'm not dying so it can't be necessity for survival, and last that leaves clever combinations of bribery or embarrassing actions." Alex explains as he attempts to open his locker without standing directly in front of it.

_Alex carefully opens up his locker even covering his ears right afterwards as he expected something to come popping right out._

"Huh maybe I had too high…. oh crap." Alex was saying to Brandon as he decided to stare into his locker to see if there actually was anything in it.

_The reason Alex reacted like that was due to his locker being stuffed to the brim with several small posters like a Thanksgiving day turkey. Alex's locker door was the only thing keeping all of this contained, so once he opened it the proverbial stuffing spilled out upon him like a Mt. Everest avalanche._

"What the heck is this?" Alex said with clear irritation as he stand back up, looks at one of the posters, and scrapes off the rest.

"Please work with me!" was what was written on the poster along with an SD version of the Zeta and Arios gundam just below it.

"Wow… maybe telling that girl your personal contact information was a bad idea after all." Brandon said like she was starting to understand the grievances caused by her errors in judgment.

_Now that the morning's entertainment is out of the way it's time to speed over to the school's lunch hour. Brandon and Alex were enjoying lunch together in one of the school's classrooms as they every lunch period._

"I swear I had nothing to do with that poster incident from this morning alright." Brandon pleaded.

"I guess…. you're not smart enough to put something like this together in a couple of days anyway… Ow what was that for?" Alex mumbled as he munched on a potato.

"What are you talking about? You should really be more careful where you swing around your legs. Who knows what you could have them bump into after all?" Brandon says in such a way that she's basically admitting that she stomped on Alex's foot.

"I'm still hungry, so I'm going to go get a pizza from the cafeteria. Do you want a slice?" Alex informed.

"Sorry for bothering you while you're eating lunch but are you Alex Thomas?" a young man asked.

_Alex turned around, and standing in the door's entryway was an overdressed pizza boy in a suit where the pizza(s) itself were stored in a fancy and most likely very expensive leather case._

"Umm yes?" Alex answers confused by the over glorified pizza boy's presence.

"I have a pizza for you man. Straight from the oven's of Pizza John's." the pizza boy explained.

"Wait that's like the most expensive pizza joint on the east coast. It's the pizza place for rich people." Brandon said in amazement.

"Is it safe to say the pizza and your tip has already been paid for right?" Alex asks the pizza boy.

"Yes paid for by a one Emika Kurihara." The pizza boy said.

"Well you can tell her to…. give her my deepest thanks on my behalf." Alex was saying before he caught whiff of the pizza.

"As you say sir." The pizza boy said before leaving.

"I thought you were going to tell the pizza boy to go…. well you get the idea." Brandon said apparently not wanting to say the 'F' word.

"I was going to until I smelled the pizza. Here take a whiff yourself." Alex explained before placing the pizza in front of his friend.

"Wow that does smell good, but I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with her." Brandon pointed out.

"I don't and it's clear this Emika girl isn't going to give up that easily, but that doesn't mean I can't take advantage of the situation whenever possible." Alex explained as he pulled the first slice out the box.

_Brandon took a slice of the pizza in her hands as well, and these two friends inhaled the smell of the fancy pizza with their noses as much as they could before finally biting into it. _

"Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah." Were the words being repeated in Alex and Brandon's minds as they found the first bite of this fancy pizza to be just that delicious.

_After gulping down the remaining eight slices of pizza like it were their last meal, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang forcing Alex and Brandon to go to their remaining classes. Then two and a half hours later the bell signaling the end of classes for the day rang allowing these two friends to go home. What should have been a normal walk home for these two turned into a unusual event in the form of a limo being parked outside of the school's back entrance._

"You've… got to be freaking…. kidding me. I'm going out the front entrance." Alex said as he turned around and starting walking back inside the school.

"Oh come on, you have to appreciate the effort she's putting into it at the very least right?" Brandon said clearly finding the situation somewhat amusing.

_But before Alex could take even one step back inside the school he felt a feminine hand grab him on the shoulder. He knew it couldn't possibly be his friend Brandon's and he also knew that he should just shake off the hand and keep going, but he turns around anyway due to letting curiosity get the better of him._

"Oh you're not who I expected." Alex said for once he turned around he not Emika, but rather her loyal maid dressed in full maid attire.

"My lady is rather shy, so she asked that I in her stead offer you a ride home." The maid explained.

"Isn't it a school day for her as well?" Alex asks.

"Normally yes, but class was canceled due to a very convenient campus wide gas leak and blackout." The maid bluntly answered.

"Well I appreciate her offer, but please tell your master that I prefer to walk home." Alex tells the maid.

"I would reconsider her offer if I were you." the maid said adjusting the position of her glasses like she has something really devious planned.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked as he still hasn't seen the hole he's about to walk right into.

"Take a look around you, and you'll see your fellow students are already talking to one another about this recent development." The maid said with a sly grin on her face as she rolled her eyes towards the variety of students watching.

_And the maid's words spoke true, for Alex's classmates were already talking about this sudden encounter be it through personal conversation or social networking in the form of texting and Facebook messaging. It all accomplishes the same purpose really. Anyways, as for the things these kids are talking about…. well you'll have to listen… or rather read to find out._

"Wow is that a real limo?" one student asks another.

"Yeah it is. I just got here a minute ago, but I heard from another student that…. Alex I believe his name was. Anyways, I heard that apparently he has a rich girlfriend and that she's come here to pick him up." The second student explained.

"Really? Wow that guy's a really lucky bastard." The first student pointed out.

"But apparently he doesn't want to go home with her. Rather rude I think, so if you ask me he should respect her wishes and just take the ride." The second student revealed.

"Since you've had a chance to hear the peanut gallery, have you reconsidered my lady's offer? It's a good thing she can't hear what they're saying from inside the limo otherwise she would have never done this. Now before you speak, all of this attention may certainly be a boost to your reputation, but the wrong choice of words would just as easily destroy it. Why all I'd have to do is say details that indicate a false relationship between the two of us." the maid whispers in Alex's ear so no one else hears.

"Did she put you up to this?" Alex asked.

"No she didn't. I'm doing this of my own accord for her sake." The maid answered.

"Then I don't really have a choice after all do I?" Alex asked as he's now officially jumped into the hole he's dug for himself.

"Not really no, but I'll allow you to keep the dignity that comes with carrying your own bags." The maid said with a smile as she opened the door to the limo.

_Emika can be seen sitting inside, but given all the people somewhat surrounding the limo she's too nervous to even look outside at Alex._

"Brandon, I guess I'll just see you later." Alex said to his friend before closing the limo door behind him.

_As the limo speeds away from the small crowd of public high school students, Alex is considering which of the many ways to express his dislike about effectively being blackmailed._

"Is the seat comfortable enough for you?" Emika asked as she decided to be the one to break the ice.

"Yes, and in case you were going to ask this next I enjoyed the pizza as well." Alex said trying oh so very hard to hide his irritation.

"Oh that's good. It took me a lot of convincing to get them to deliver a single pizza to a public school. I'm glad it turned out to be worth the effort." Emika said as she was happy about how the conversation was going.

"I see your maid is also your chauffeur. That must be nice." Alex points out noting the maid that blackmailed him is driving the limo.

"Oh yes, despite how young she looks she's actually way older than me and is skilled in a wide variety of things. I even heard rumors that she used to be a Yakuza hit woman, but she's too nice for that to be true." Emika said like she was gloating about her maid.

"It that was her being nice, I'd hate to see what her being angry is like. It must be a rather scary site." Alex thought with no rhyming intended.

"I won't beat around the bush any longer, so let's not waste anymore time. Have you reconsidered my offer at all?" Emika asked.

"Like I told you yesterday, if I enter and win nationals it'll be with a Gunpla I built with my own hands, so no I haven't reconsidered your offer at all." Alex bluntly answered.

"I see. I had hoped there'd be a way to do this without resorting to that, but I see I don't have any other choice." Emika tells Alex as she realized that she had no choice but to play whatever trump card she was saving.

"What exactly did you want to avoid?" Alex asks slightly curious about the whole thing.

"Then Alex Thomas winner of the first USA Gunpla Battle Championship tournament, I hereby challenge you to a Gunpla Battle myself. I've already arranged for a space where we'd be able to fight undisturbed, so there's no need to worry about that. If you win then I promise to drop all of this and leave you alone, but if I win you'll have to fight together with me whether you like it or not." Emika said as she boldly challenged Alex.

"Take me home." Alex retorts.

"You're just going to ignore my challenge?" Emika asked clearly flustered by Alex's statement.

"No I'm not I just wish to stop by my place first." Alex retorts.

"I see…. okay then. I've already prepared two of the same Gunpla, so this will make it a battle of pure skill alone." Emika said.

"No…. use your own Gunpla the Arios Zeta Gundam, and I'll use my own Gunpla to fight it." Alex declared.

"But I thought the Zeta gundam components I used to make it was your Gunpla." Emika retorts.

"It was, but it's not the only Gunpla I have." Alex explained.

"Then could you please hurry to Mr. Thomas's residence." Emika orders of her maid.

* * *

_One short car chase….. I mean joining of a car convoy later, Alex runs into his home. He emerges but a moment later carrying a black leather Gunpla case attached to his belt. Now when Emika said she'd already arranged a space for their fight in advance, Alex originally anticipated it to be some out of the way place but what he got was a return to the Model Building Club building of Clancy Academy. Only instead of the lecture hall, he was led to one of the battle systems located in the training hall by Athrun himself._

"Don't worry no one not even the other club members will bother you, but since you're still technically a guest here I have to be here to observe the fight." Athrun explains to Alex.

_Emika and Alex pick a battle system to stand in front of for the battle that will decide both of their fates. Athrun and Emika's maid are sitting on the bench a short distance away for the sole purpose of observing that fight._

"Before we begin I have to ask, why challenge me to make me use your Gunpla?" Alex inquired as he and Emika set their GP bases.

"When I saw you fight with my Arios, I saw that you could move it far better than I ever would." Emika answered.

"That's an observation not a reason. Let's say you could defeat me, which would make having me fight with your Gunpla pointless as you yourself could easily make it to nationals with that level of skill. That means there's a underlying reason behind why you're doing this." Alex pointed out.

"There is a reason, and I'll tell you when I win." Emika declared.

_Meanwhile at the same time at another place, Ms. Kurihara that is Emika's mother is busy signing documents for her company at their newly established USA headquarters when her assistant comes in wishing to tell her something important._

"I realize you're busy at work Ms. Kurihara, but I have something important to show you." the assistant said as he placed a laptop on Ms. Kurihara's desk.

"What is it?" Ms. Kurihara asked.

"You tasked me with the duty of keeping tabs on your daughter, and to alert you when something of note came up. Well this feed is coming live from Clancy Academy's Model Building Club building." The assistant said as he opened up the laptop and pressed a few buttons upon it.

_After the assistant pressed a few buttons, a live feed of Emika and Alex standing in front of a battle system can be seen just like the assistant said._

"So you're willing to go this far against me huh, and against him of all people? Very well, from start to finish this time I shall not interfere." Mr. Kurihara thought.

"What do you want me to do mam?" the assistant inquires of his boss.

"Nothing…. no actually instead I want you to reschedule all of my appointments for the day. I'm going to see this battle from start to finish." Ms. Kurihara said.

_And now it's time to go back to the sight of the battle where Alex had just taken out a Strike Zeta from his pouch. If you look closer you can see it's the very same one he used against Athrun years ago._

"Because of the way I am now I haven't been able to upgrade my Strike Zeta with newer components, but I've been able to maintain the performance it already had." Alex tells Emika.

"Are you alright? You seem antsy all of a sudden." Emika's maid asks Athrun.

"Field 2, Desert. Please set your Gunpla." the battle system ordered.

"Even if it may be considered obsolete by modern day standards, it's still the Gunpla that defeated me with pure ease so I can't help but feel antsy." Athrun explained.

"If it's obsolete…. Then lady Emika may have an easier time then I thought." Emika's maid said.

"You're being presumptuous by saying that. Obsolete or not it's still a national level gunpla being controlled by someone who fought at the national level. No….. I'd say this battle will be very hard for Emika especially since she's a beginner." Athrun interjects.

"Since you've told me a weakness about yourself it's only fair that I do the same. This battle no matter what happens, no matter how intense, how challenging, or how heartfelt it will be over in 10 minutes or less." Emika declared.

"A declaration of victory already? Is this girl really that strong? Or is she just that supremely arrogant?" Alex thought as he can't help but be put on guard because of that statement.

"Battle start." The battle system declared.

"Alex Tomas, Strike Zeta, I'm heading out!" Alex yelled.

"Emika Kurihara, Arios Zeta, launching!" Emika yelled.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Alex: A beginner like you will never be able to defeat me in 10 minutes.

Emika: I never said it was a declaration of victory.

Alex: Oh, then what does it mean?

Emika: It won't matter. You're just too afraid to admit that you can no longer do anything on your own, but I'm not. That reason alone is why you'll lose to me.

Alex: I'll show you just who's afraid!

Emika: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "The Sickness of Battle Part 2"


	6. The Sickness of Battle Part 2

**Gundam Build Fighters **

**Chapter 6**

**The Sickness of Battle Part 2**

* * *

_A dream or a nightmare of the past can be a wonderful or horrible thing at the same time. Through such things we can relive our greatest victories, and the moments of our greatest sorrow. We already saw examples of such things through the visions of the pasts of Alex and Athrun, but now it's time to go through such things once more as we view into Emika's past in the form of a dream._

"Wow mommy, that battle was so amazing. I know the battle was short, but I can't believe it was between two kids my age. Say do you think I could do these things once we get back home?" a young Emika asked.

"Ha ha yes well I know taking you to watch this fight was last minute, but I'm sure if you practice hard enough and learn from the opponents you face that you'll do fine." Ms. Kurihara said as she put on a smile for her daughter.

"Maybe when I get older I'll get a chance to face the champion…. That is if he's still the champion by the time I'm done with him." the young Emika giggled.

"Ha ha it's a little too early for you to declare victory before that battle has even begun, though who knows what could happen in the future." Ms. Kurihara chuckles.

_This mother and her daughter left the stadium in which the first American Gunpla battle tournament was taking place, to which was done with the intention of going home themselves yet that was not what fate had in store for them._

"Hm… oh wait mommy you dropped this!" Emika yelled as a small black credit card fell out of her mother's pocket without her noticing.

_Naturally wishing to continue being the dutiful daughter that she was, the young Emika practically sprinted across the side walk so as to return her mother's credit card. Little did she realize that in her attempt to impress Santa Claus while sprinting towards her mother, the young Emika accidently brushed up against a young boy only a year older than her at the most and caused him to accidently drop a trophy in which he happened to be carrying in the street._

"Sorry!" the young Emika yelled just seconds after brushing past the young boy and his father who happened to be walking next to him.

_Then a few seconds later, the young Emika caught up to her mother who happened to be just out of ear shot of the young boy she bumped into._

"I found your card mommy." The young Emika said as she handed her mother her credit card.

"Hey watch where you're going you brat!" the young boy yelled having clearly not heard the young Emika's apology.

"You should really be more careful. Now let's go have you apologize to the people you bumped into." Ms. Kurihara strongly suggests to her daughter.

_Wishing to go along with her mother's suggestion seeing as how she couldn't refuse it anyway, this mother daughter combination walk up to the young boy just as his father was about to yank him out of the way of an oncoming truck just inches away from him._

"Arghhhh!" the young boy screams as though his body may have avoided serious injuries, his hands were not so lucky.

_The young boy was lucky that he escaped only with mangled hands and crushed bone instead of having the inside of those particular limbs squirt out like a chocolate éclair. Still the lesser of two evils does not make the pain he must be experiencing any less intense._

"Don't look dear because you don't need to see that, but all I need you to do now is just wake up." Ms. Kurihara said…. or rather mostly said as she forcibly turned around her young daughter to face her.

* * *

_The reason I said "Mostly said" was because those last few lines were being said by Emika's maid in the conscious realm in an attempt to wake her up, of which caused it to be said by Emika's mother in her conscious realm. After several minutes of continuous effort, the maid is successful in waking her mistress up. The mistress, or rather Emika nodded off in a limo that happened to be on its way to Alex's school._

"Are you alright?" Emika's maid asked.

"No, I'm fine just a dream." Emika answered as she got back to work.

_That thing Emika was working on was none other than the Arios Zeta itself. Thanks to having a work station specially installed in her personal limo, she was able to work on this machine both at home and on the go. Emika had spent the weekend fixing the design flaws caused by putting the custom Gunpla together in a single day._

"Have you finished your repairs?" Emika's maid inquired.

"It's less repairs and more getting rid of the flaws in a rushed design. Sections of both frames are either grinding or pushing up against each other. It caused reduced mobility, speed, reaction time, unnecessary stress on the frame, and overall reducing MA mode's aerodynamic ability. I believe I've fixed that problem. As for a customized weapons load out, I've upgraded the Arios's beam rifle and will be able to get at the Zeta Gundam's later today. For further improvements I'll need more battle data." Emika explained to her maid.

"Provided everything goes according to the plan I put together, that won't be a problem. Of course even if it doesn't it still won't be a problem anyway." Emika's maid said as a sly grin was practically painted across her face.

"If it comes to it…. I've already made arrangements for the backup plan thanks to a new friend of mind." Emika said.

"You do realize the personal risks involved correct? I hope you realize everything that could go wrong should you choose to fight him." Emika's maid inquired in such a way that implied major concern for her mistress's safety.

"I've made my peace with it, so there's no reason to worry. Just… how much longer until we get there?" Emika inquired.

"I can see his school at the top of the hill now." Emika's maid answered.

* * *

_From this point on, you readers of the world should already know what's about to happen next. That simple sequence of events shall be skipped, and the story shall continue right before the battle to decide their fates would begin._

"Because of the way I am now I haven't been able to upgrade my Strike Zeta with newer components, but I've been able to maintain the performance it already had." Alex tells to Emika.

"Since you've told me a weakness about yourself it's only fair that I do the same. This battle no matter what happens, no matter how intense, or how heartfelt it will be over within 10 minutes or less." Emika declared with clear confidence.

"A declaration of victory already? Is this girl really that strong? Or is she just that supremely arrogant?" Alex thought as he can't help but be put on guard because of that statement.

"Battle start." The battle system declared.

"Alex Thomas, Strike Zeta, I'm heading out!" Alex yelled.

"Emika Kurihara, Arios Zeta, launching!" Emika yelled.

_Though there's a great deal of open space, Emika cautiously moves through this simulated heat soaked environment as she doesn't know whether or not Alex happens to be hiding behind one of the few rock mounds here._

"Where is he?" Emika thought as she flew in a straight line just inches of the ground.

"Incoming!" Emika's maid yelled.

_Though Emika likely didn't hear her warning because it was drowned out by the noise of several oncoming missiles, of which given the spacing between them were launched to cover a wide area. In response, Emika went back full speed in the opposite direction to avoid an explosive end._

"He has to be around here somewhere." Emika thought constantly glancing over her view monitors.

_Suddenly Emika hears the sound of exploding rock to her left, and when she looks in the direction she witnesses an oncoming blast from a Hyper Mega Launcher. The beam is coming to fast for her to dodge, so she brings her shield in front of her to take the attack._

"Your reaction time is pretty good to be able to dodge that first attack, but your movements are still pretty sluggish." Alex tells Emika once the explosion caused by his attack clears.

"All though I've barely upgraded it, this shield here is the reason I'm still around." Emika retorts.

_Though it may have been indeed that shield in which saved Emika, it took quite a deal of damage as the outer portions of it have been partially melted off._

"That really is a good shield, but my guess is that it'll only be able to take three or four more shots like that provided the strain alone doesn't rip off your Gunpla's arm." Alex pointed out.

"I'm okay…. my lungs have only tightened up a little and my heartbeat is till normal, so I should be able to keep going for a little while longer." Emika thought as she was breathing heavily.

_Athrun seemed to be paying a great deal of attention to this battle, but Emika's maid while understanding its importance was seemingly uninterested in it save for the occasional glance. In fact her attention was focused upon her cell phone as she checked her messages, e-mail, and news updates._

"Strange… from what I've seen researching what of his battles on public record, this Alex should be able to easily my lady. Why hasn't he done so yet?" Emika's maid mumbles.

"Isn't it obvious?" Athrun retorts legitimately surprised by her comment.

"To me it isn't, so forgive me if I don't understand the unspoken aspects of a Gunpla battle." Emika's maid retorts.

"Then perhaps it's obvious to me because of my experience, but Alex despite how rusty his skills are is trying to win while inflicting only the minimal amount of damage necessary to do so." Athrun explained.

"Why would he do that?" Emika's maid curiously asked as she put down her cell phone.

"Truthfully I don't know, but if I had to guess it's probably because he doesn't want to hurt Emika's feelings or he doesn't feel comfortable destroying a Gunpla he fought with." Athrun suggested.

"As a member of the Gunpla elite 4 of the country you must be very intuitive about these sorts of things." Emika's maid said.

"You haven't done any research on us? I mean I ask because given the atmosphere you give off I thought you would." Athrun retorts.

"It wasn't necessary for me to accomplish my lady's wishes, however if you wish to give me a brief summary on the subject I'd certainly welcome it." Emika's maid explained.

"Very well, the reason we have the title of 'Elite 4' and 'Champion because of the Pokémon video game franchise believe it or not. Though over shadowed by the Gunpla boom caused by the Battle System being released for public use, there was a Pokémon boom at the same time. The association of these two things led those terms to be used on us." Athrun explained in a polite and easy to understand way.

"Who are the other two members of the Elite 4 then? I mean I ask because like I said before it wasn't necessary for me to accomplish my lady's wishes." Emika's maid inquired.

"You already know about Brandon and I, so I take it I can skip that part right?" Athrun asked in response as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"You mean whether or not I know about how you used to date your best friend's twin sister? Don't worry I know better than to delve into that landmine. Could you please continue?" Emika's maid bluntly answered before asking another question herself.

"Ahem right…. well you already know about me being the first member of the Elite 4 and Brandon being the 4th, but the 2nd is Greco Logan a Gunpla building veteran and the 3rd and newest member of the Elite 4 due to joining our ranks last year is Lena Wilham." Athrun explained.

"Last year? How does one become a member of the Elite 4 actually?" Emika's maid curiously asks again.

"Enter the US National tournament and place somewhere between 2nd to 5th after everything is said and done with. Actually Greco and myself are the only remaining members of the original Elite 4 with Brandon joining 4 years ago and again Lena 1 year ago. There is one more detail you should know however because I really want to get back to watching this battle." Athrun explained.

"Then I apologize for taking up too much of your time, but I do want to know what that last thing is." Emika's maid said hiding the fact she was almost willing to beg for the information.

"Forgive me if this sounds a bit arrogant as I'm really trying not to be, but while Greco and Lena are strong competitors, the members of the Elite 4 you have to worry about are myself and Brandon." Athrun explained.

"Why Brandon? Isn't she technically the weakest of the Elite 4?" Emika's maid asked due to having her curiosity piqued at an even higher level.

"On official record perhaps, but in reality it's different due to the way one becomes the 4th member of our circle. The people who are eliminated in the 3rd to last round of the tournament fight each other in a battle royal format. The 4 competitors that battle in it each poses skill close to myself or Brandon's brother's. Brandon herself has come out of those Battle Royale matches 3 years in a row as the victor." Athrun explained clearly indicating how much respect he has for her.

"Wow. I believe that after hearing all of that, living here may be more interesting for me after all." Emika's maid grins as she decides to focus all of her energy into watching her lady's fight.

_How is that battle going you ask? Well first allow me to move back the hands of time to just when Emika had blocked the Strike Zeta's Hyper Mega Launcher with her own simulated GN particle enhanced shield._

"Your reaction time is pretty good to be able to dodge that first attack, but your movements are still pretty sluggish." Alex tells Emika once the explosion caused by his attack clears.

"All though I've barely upgraded it, this shield here is the reason I'm still around." Emika retorts.

"Oh? Then just let me go ahead and test its durability." Alex said as he tried to get some traditional witty banter going.

"Okay….. I'm starting to have a bit of trouble breathing and I can feel my pulse has gone up, but I can keep fighting." Emika thought as she put on a strong face not for Alex but for her own sake.

_Alex started off rounds 2 of the battle by firing off a few grenades from the grenade launchers built in the Strike Zeta's forearms, but it's an easy thing for Emika to block with her shield._

"So fast!" Emika thought as the moment she moved her shield out of her line of sight, she saw that Alex already closed much of the distance between each other.

"Like I said before your movements are still sluggish and unrefined." Alex tells Emika as there were now only inches separating the two of them.

_With the intention of warding him off via melted plastic Emika draws her beam saber and goes for a two-handed overheard slash, but it's too late for that as Alex grabs both arms just in the nick of time._

"Sorry, but you've left me no choice." Alex tells Emika with a sad face as he opens up a visual communication channel between the two of them.

_Alex immediately aims the Strike Zeta's hip mounted movable beam cannons at the Arios Zeta's legs. He fires the cannons, but not to blow the legs of his opponent's unit clean off rather he takes a chunk out of them which makes it very difficult for Emika to stand upright while moving at the same time._

"No…. I can't be defeated here. Not with a chance to… realize my dreams being so close." Emika thought as she started to have real trouble breathing, as her pulse became noticeably higher, and like her Gunpla as she started to have difficulty standing.

_Not even paying attention to his opponent's current condition, Alex rips the beam saber out of Emika's hand with one of his own and then he punches the Arios Zeta straight across the face causing to fall down practically seemingly in slow motion of all things. At least that's how things look to Emika here._

"I don't want to have to destroy your Gunpla so please just give up, but if you don't you'll leave me with no choice." Alex tells Emika as her Gunpla still seems like it's falling down in slow motion for her.

"No…. not yet." Emika practically forced herself to mumble as her body finally gives into the stress it's under and collapses with one hand still on the controls.

"Oh crap!" Alex said aloud as he ran out of his simulated cockpit with obvious concern for Emika's well being

_With the last of her strength Emika pulled the trigger on her Gunpla's beam rifle before slipping into a unconscious state, and the simulated collection of intense heat that followed created a cylindrical shaped hole through Alex's unmoving Gunpla right where the cockpit would be if this were a real mobile suit. Soon afterwards, a large explosion occurred bringing this battle to a very short and equally surprising close._

"Battle ended." The battle system declared.

"Hey are you okay?" Alex asked with a massive amount of concern for Emika as he manages to catch her before her head hit the ground.

"According to my calculations she should have been able to last longer than this. Does that mean I underestimated how much the stress would exacerbate her condition?" Emika's maid thought as she and Athrun ran to Emika's side.

"Is she alright?" Athrun asked as he was also concerned for the safety of a fellow student.

"She should regain consciousness in an hour or two. Is there anywhere in this building she can rest?" Emika's maid asks of Athrun.

"There's a couch in the lounge…. but I left my keys to it in the club's workshop. I'll go on ahead and get it. You should be able to find it as the door's marked 'Lounge'." Athrun informed.

"I should be able to find it, so I'll just carry her over to the place." Alex said as he bent over to pick Emika up.

"I'm fine really, so you don't need to worry over me so much." Emika apparently actually still conscious tried to say, but the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth.

"Thank you for doing this, but I need to make a pho…" Emika's maid was saying.

* * *

_Before there is any confusion let me just state that Emika's maid didn't stop speaking because of some unexpected interruption, but rather it was at that exact point where she really did lose consciousness. Who knows, maybe she heard what the others were saying in whatever dream like state she was in? Well regardless of that dream-like state, Emika regains consciousness about 30 minutes later to which was much sooner than expected._

"Where am I?" Emika asked as she opened her eyes.

"We're in your school's model building club's lounge. Athrun was here a couple of minutes ago, but he left saying that he was going to direct the other club members around this area so you could rest undisturbed." Alex explained.

_People at the wide variety of financial levels must each have their own idea on what a cool place to hang out is. Here at this club's lounge of Clancy Academy there are classic amenities such as a fridge for club members to store their personal food/drink, one vending machine filled with cheap snacks, another with classical drinks, and means of entertainment such as a few televisions or a pool table. Emika herself is resting her head on Alex's lap like it was her personal pillow._

"About 2 minutes and 36.43 seconds." Alex tells Emika in a calm tone of voice.

"Huh?" Emika retorts clearly confused by what Alex meant.

"Your declaration of victory remember? You said the battle would be over in less than 10 minutes, and you were right because it took 2 minutes and 36.43 seconds." Alex explained.

"I lost then? You're also probably curious about why I passed out in the middle of the battle right?" Emika asked as she tries to sit up right.

"Easy there just stay still seeing as how as you said you just passed out, and yes I am curious but I know better than to ask about personal details that people don't want to talk about if I can help it." Alex said as he forced Emika to lay back down for her own good.

"Even though I failed to get you to fight with the Gunpla I built, I was so fervent about making it happen that… it's only fair after being defeated that I tell you exactly why." Emika said.

"Are you sure? I won't force you to say anything if you don't want to." Alex pointed out as he wanted to be absolutely sure about Emika's decision to tell him whatever story she was going to tell.

"Every human….. no every living being in the world can tolerate different amounts of different things more than others. For example there are things such as the strain on your muscles for playing football, the strain on your mind for managing a company, and more importantly as it relates to me strain on your body for resisting disease." Emika explained with an almost sad tone.

"Disease? You mean you have something?" a confused Alex asked.

"Some have cancer, others have asthma, but me I have a very rare… allergy for the lack of better words to something that prevents me from doing what I love." Emika answered.

"Allergy? The only thing I could think of that could harm you is….. Plavsky Particles." Alex was saying as he realized what Emika was trying to lead him to.

"You're exactly right. There are types of radiation that kill us instantly, types we need to survive, and types that will cripple us. Plavsky Particles emit a very unique radiation frequency that that steadily tricks my body into thinking it's going into antiepileptic shock, and it gets worse every time I try to have a Gunpla battle." Emika explained as she tried to sit up right, but this time Alex didn't stop her.

"Wouldn't PPSE try to research a cure or something? I mean from what I understand they're a fairly humanitarian corporation." Alex asks.

"While PPSE did do research into this 'Plavsky Allergy' there's no reason for them or any other pharmaceutical company to research a cure let alone a vaccine. You see the disease is so rare that among the 7 billion or so humans on this Earth….. there are only about 350 confirmed cases of this condition making any profits from a cure be pointless compared to the costs of research into its creation." Emika explained.

"Then when you saw me fight you believed you had a chance to make your dreams come true right?" Alex asks.

"Yea…brghh sorry I just feel a little cold." Emika said as she shivered suddenly.

"Here just take my jacket." Alex said as he passed the girl the aforementioned article of clothing.

"Thank you…. anyways that's why I fixated on you, and I'm really sorry for the trouble I've caused you. I lost, so I'll leave you alone from here on out." Emika said as she was now resting her head against Alex's shoulders.

"You've told me a weakness about yourself, so it's only fair I do the same. Those were more or less your words right?" Alex retorts.

"What story could you possibly want to tell me?" Emika inquired.

"Well you probably already know about it, but right after I was leaving the stadium with the championship trophy in hand I got into an accident. Some girl brushed passed me causing me to drop my trophy in the road. I went in after it not noticing the oncoming truck, and my father managed to pull me out of the way in time. He was fast enough where my body avoided serious injury, but my hands were practically turned into pancakes. If it wasn't our medical insurance as my dad told me, I would never have gotten an experimental reconstructive surgery on my hands." Alex said as he purposefully touched his fingers to his thumbs.

"What did you do after that?" Emika asked having gained the role as inquisitor.

"I was in physical therapy for 2 years thinking I could get right back to Gunpla Battles as soon it was over with, but I soon realized that after the first tournament I entered I could still control a Gunpla normally yet my hands no longer had the dexterity required to make a high quality one. That discovery sent me into a state depression." Alex explained.

"Yet from what I see you got out of it." Emika pointed out.

"Yes I did, and I have Brandon to thank for it, but that's a story for another time. With my renewed determination, I worked my hands hard so they could regain the dexterity they lost. Yet after a while I began to lose faith in even that, and out of pride or rather arrogance… I refused to seek outside help and chose continuous belief in my own power. You can't make a difference with strength alone or will alone. It was a harsh lesson that I learned when I used your Arios and then the Arios Zeta. Seeing what I could achieve if I just changed my perceptions made me scared on the inside, and… I think that's why I outright refused your offer." Alex says from the bottom of his heart.

"Then I'm sorry for making you feel things you didn't want to." Emika tells Alex in a guilt filled tone.

"It's alright, and I suppose this sensation of fear is something I'm going to have to get used to if we're going to work together." Alex suddenly said.

"Wait what? I lost, so why?" a shocked Emika asked.

"I never said that you lost, and you only assumed you did. Why the way I remember it is that the battle system declared you the victor as you managed to fire off the killing shot with the last of your strength." Alex said in a joking sarcastic sort of tone.

"Oh thank you so so much….. Oh I'm sorry, but I'm just so excited that I didn't know what came over me." Emika said in such a way that it was as if this news alone healed her causing her to kiss Alex on the cheek out of excitement.

"Yes well… unexpected as that was, I think I'll leave you to rest." Alex said caught off guard by Emika's token of her grattitude as he got off the couch and started walking towards the door.

_The door into the lounge had opened and not because Alex was about to leave, but rather because Athrun came charging in like he had just received some shocking news._

"Remote…. where is it?" Athrun mumbled clearly out of breathe.

"This is your club's lounge man, I have no idea." Alex answered.

"I saw a live feed through the internet on a club member's phone, but…. you guys have to see this yourself." Alex said still breathing hard as he turned on the TV and started flipping through channels like his life depended on it.

"See what?" Emika asked becoming more worried than curious.

_Emika got her answer when Athrun stopped on a channel which primarily focused on anything related to Gunpla. What was on the television right now was a Gunpla news program that focused on everything from the national level down. It seemed as if they were having a breaking news update…. one that would interrupt regularly scheduled programming. _

"To recap, we received word from older brother of Elite 4 member Brandon Marsh, and current Gunpla American Tournament champion Jason Marsh that he will not be entering this year's national tournament. This upheaval leaves the title of best in the country up for grabs." The news anchor said.

_Gunpla Battlers all over the country and perhaps even the world were shocked by the news of a rival and a figure to look up to willingly give up his title. Alex, Emika, and the members of the Elite 4 especially Brandon were shocked by this news on an even deeper level but before their reactions could be seen…_

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Brandon: How could you do this?!

Jason: Because there's no point.

Alex: What's going to happen now?

Emika: I truly have no idea.

Alex: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "Clash of Champions!"

Brandon: No if anyone will get my brother out of this funk it will be me.


	7. Clash of Champions!

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 7**

**Clash of Champions!**

* * *

_Fighters across the USA were rendered into an almost vegetative state of shock when they found out that Jason Marsh 6 time winner of the USA Gunpla National tournament announced that he would not seek to keep his title. Certainly fighters worldwide had mixed feelings about a strong competitor suddenly dropping out, but shocked most of all was his twin sister Brandon especially since she didn't know about any of this. Her exact reaction is an issue that will be addressed at another time. Right now however, Emika and Alex are starting to work out the kinks in their newly formed partnership by having the latter of the two gather battle data for the former to use for future upgrades._

"Are you ready? These 5 Zaku, while being controlled by the computer are Gunpla I built myself so don't expect it to be an easy fight." Emika explained.

"It wouldn't be fun if it was easy, but I'm just waiting for you." Alex retorts.

_This time around Alex and Emika aren't practicing using the Model Building Club facilities at Clancy Academy. Thanks to Emika's significant financial resources, she was able to secure a private room with a battle system at a Gunpla Battle gym for them to practice undisturbed._

"Field 3, Forest. Please set your Gunpla." The battle system said.

"Oh by the way, after our little run it did you make any further upgrades to this unit?" Alex asked as he placed the Arios Zeta on the GP Base.

"No just repairs." Emika answered.

"Alright then." Alex retorts.

"Battle start!" the battle system declared.

Arios Zeta!" Emika yelled.

"We're heading out!" Alex yelled.

_As if he were a soldier fighting on the front lines of an actual warzone, the moment the Arios Zeta is out of its simulated catapult Alex has it duck behind tree to tree for cover.'_

"How is everything feeling so far?" Emika inquired as her face popped up in Alex's cockpit via video chat.

"From just basic movements the left leg seems a bit more sensitive than the right, but other than that everything seems fine." Alex answered.

"Wait, I thought you couldn't handle being exposed to Plavsky Particles?" Alex asked surprised to see Emika behind the controls as a navigator/operator.

"While still exposed to them yes, the exact level of exposure as a navigator is miniscule compared to the exposure as a fighter. Basically as long as any fight doesn't drag out for too long, I'll be able to support you in this regards." Emika explained.

"Okay….. but if it does start to effect you I want you to get out from behind the controls and let me handle everything." Alex said.

"That was my plan from the start. Anyways don't bother hiding because I set the parameters of this battle to where the Zakus will always know where you are." Emika retorts.

"Really? You're just telling me this…." Alex was saying.

_Alex was saying….. at least until machine gun fire from one of the Zakus blew past his or rather the Arios Zeta's face. Determining the origin of the shot almost immediately, Alex fired off a round with the beam rifle but the Zaku in question was able to quickly maneuver out of the way._

"I'm sorry if you spent a lot of time getting these Gunpla ready for this training exercise Emika, but it's been a while since I could really cut loose in a fight and I'm going to take it." Alex tells his partner as a big grin shows on his face.

"Go ahead. I can't make improvements if I don't understand how you fight at your best." Emika said completely accepting of the fact that Alex was about to rip these training Gunpla a new one.

_Like a soldier trained to react even the most subtle of sounds, Alex fires off yet another shot from the Arios Zeta's beam rifle in the direction where he heard a broken off tree branch snap in two. After a few moments of silence and charred holes through multiple trees, a loud explosion reverberates across the forest indicating that Alex hit one of the five Zakus._

"That should have stirred the hornet's nest, so we're going to take to the skies now. Pay attention to your monitors Emika, because you're about to get a crash course in what it means to be an operator." Alex said as he had the Arios Zeta take to the skies.

_Emika takes Alex's proverbial call to arms seriously as she keeps a close eye on the Arios Zeta's condition and the battlefield's geographical data for any signs of her little training killing machines._

"Alex, there are two of them behind us!" Emika yelled recognizing the sound of the thruster's of the Gunpla she built.

"Understood." Alex said as he changes the weapons in both hands to beam sabers.

_If the two Gunpla approaching Alex from behind were being controlled by real people, they'd probably think that they have him completely off guard. Before the AI controlling these two Gunpla could even react, Alex had already drawn his two beam sabers and with a quick thruster enhanced 360 degree spin… he horizontal rendered those two Zakus inoperable._

"Now where are the last tw…." Alex was saying.

"Pincer attack!" Emika yelled.

"No need to scream, and thanks for the warning." Alex retorts.

_From their front and their flank, the two remaining Zakus each fire off a single shot from a solid ammo using Bazooka. Alex counters by deflecting the attack with his shared Gunpla's solid shield creating a field of smoke that hides him from these two Zakus view as a result. Speaking of which, these remaining two Zakus keep a careful distance away from the epicenter of the smoke as they reload their bazookas for another volley. Yet out of one end of the smoke comes a few shots from the Arios Zeta's beam rifle, out of the other comes one of its beam sabers tossed like a throwing knife, and both destroy their opponents to which brings this data gathering battle to a close._

"I knew you were skilled, but I didn't think you'd be able to win that quickly. One question though, why did you throw one of the beam sabers?" Emika asked in awe of Alex's control skills as she picked up the Arios Zeta to examine up close in detail.

"Forgive me if this sounds like I'm lazy, but I didn't want to take the time to turn around to fire. I mean I could have finished off the two Zakus from earlier using just one beam saber, but I guess I'm just more comfortable with dual wielding." Alex explained.

"I see, and actually that's good news. To me anyways because I was already planning to upgrade the Arios Zeta on a dual weapons principal, so you telling me this lets me know I'm not wasting any time." Emika happily said.

"Ha ha that's good. I wouldn't want to add more of a work load then necessary." Alex retorts somewhat perturbed by Emika's gleefulness.

"We should be ready for regional qualifiers a few days away, but still… I just don't get it." Emika mumbled to herself.

"Don't get what?" a now curious Alex asked.

"You must know something about him since you've been friends with his sister for years. Do you have any idea why Jason chose not to try to keep his title this year?" Emika answers with another question.

"His sister and I may be close friends, but I actually know very little about Jason. Despite the years I've known Brandon he and I have only met a few times, so I'm afraid I won't be much help there." Alex explained.

"Then I guess….. for now it'll be an issue between siblings." Emika pointed out.

"Unless she calls for help, yeah I think it will be." Alex followed.

* * *

_The sister of a champion… I wonder what her thoughts are about her brother choosing not to defend his title for another year. The answer to that question… or at least the first steps to that answer start with Brandon sitting at home alone waiting for her brother to arrive._

"I'm home!" Jason yelled checking to see if anyone else was in the house.

"What the hell are you doing by not trying to fight for your title again?! I mean if you wanted to stop being a fighter I'd respect that decision, but I thought you'd at least tell me why!" Brandon yelled after running up to her twin brother.

_Contrary to his sister's red hair Jason has short combed back brown hair, brown eyes, is wearing a black leather jacket, a dark blue shirt, tan colored pants, and light blue shoes._

"It's my decision and sister or not it's none of your business why I chose to stop fighting." Jason said rather bluntly and rudely to his sister as he started walking towards his bedroom.

"The hell it doesn't, so you should have told me at least something about this!" Brandon yelled.

"This coming from a sister who dated a friend of mine for a while." Jason retorts.

"Yes well umm…. that was because he wouldn't notice the signs and… don't try and change the subject. At least I'm not seeing my friend's fiancée on the side." Brandon retorts becoming red and nervous for a moment before regaining her composure.

"This isn't Gundam Seed, and I'm not Kira Yamato. Besides the fact the dude has never had a girlfriend, I would know if he actually did have one." Jason points out.

"Stop trying to change the subject!" Brandon yelled.

"You're the one who brought it up not me. Now if you'll excuse me I have a school project to work on, and after that's done I need to catch up on sleep." Jason points out as he slams his bedroom door shut.

_Now imagine yourself as a camera sitting on the desk in Jason's room. You can see faded spots on the wall where posters once hung, spots on a shelf free of dust where statues or trophies once stood, and only a few inches away from the camera's lens the leg of what must be Jason's Gunpla can be seen._

"I've chosen to leave the path of a fighter, so why can't I get rid of you one of the last things that link me to that life?" Jason said as he stared at his Gunpla and talked to it like it were a living and breathing person.

"How could you just give up so easily? Don't you remember why we got into Gunpla Battles in the first place?!" Brandon yelled from the other side of Jason's bedroom door.

"Of course I remember." Jason quietly mumbled as he began to reminisce about that past.

* * *

_It wasn't just Athrun and Emika's lives that were influenced by the first USA national Gunpla Battle tournament, but the twins Jason and Brandon as well. Unlike Emika and Athrun however, they were watching the tournament with the comforts that come with sitting on a big couch in front of the TV at home. They've just witnessed the short yet exciting or at least it was to them battle between Athrun and Alex._

"Battle ended." The battle system declared.

"There you have it… the winner of the first American Gunpla National Tournament is…. Alex Thomas!" the two announcers yelled as the crowd in the background went bonkers.

_It would have been almost impossible 9 years ago to tell which twin was which as Brandon and Jason looked exactly alike when they were 6. The only difference between the two kids at the time save for their personality's were the fact one was dressed in a girly pink and the other a manly blue. Anyways, both twins sat in awe next to their parents though Jason's reaction was that of someone who's battle lust began to silently stir for the first time while Brandon's reaction was a typical childlike amazement._

"Mother and father, for my birthday can I please have a Gunpla?" the young Jason asked as he continuously clenched his first out of excitement.

"Oh me too me too I wanna be able to fight like that. Wait…. we have the same birthday, so why say 'my'?" the young Brandon asked as she took notice of her brother's word.

"Because I'm me and you're you. We may have the same birthday, but we aren't the same person." The young Jason pointed out.

"That's a really philosophical thing to say Jason, but sure as long as you're both behave yourselves until then I see no reason why not." Mr. Marsh said with a smile.

"Really? Wow thanks dad." Brandon said still with childlike excitement.

"Good." Jason quietly mumbled.

_Even in the past time moves forward, so a few days later after the twin's birthday Jason had already finished his very first Gunpla while Brandon was still working on hers. Speaking of Brandon, she's working on the upper body of her Gunpla at the kitchen table as Jason happens to be walking by._

"Are you still working on your Astray Red Frame?" the young Jason asked as he finally takes notice of his sister's activities.

"Yeah, and I should finally have the thing finished later tonight or early tomorrow morning. Building a Gunpla is a lot harder than I thought, but it'll be worth it to be able to fight like that." the young Brandon said as she was thinking about her dreams for the future.

"Do you need help to finish?" the young Jason though as blunt as it sounded inquired with concern for his sister.

"I'd be like really grateful, but don't you have to finish yours?" the young Brandon retorts.

"I already finished the blue frame yesterday, and with some of the money I got for my birthday I got a few weapon kits for basic customization." The young Jason explained.

"I can't believe you finished yours in a single day, so yeah if you really have nothing else to do I'd really appreciate it." the young Brandon said.

_Now with the proverbial sword of both twins having finally been forged, it's time for them to be bloodied for the first time in battle. Translating, I mean that it's time to see how their first Gunpla perform so they know how to upgrade it later and have improved quality of future Gunpla built. Actually the battle system they're using happens to be at the very same arcade where Emika and Alex first met, though back then in had a more brightly colored aesthetic design. This battle was over as quickly as the one between Alex and Athrun for despite this being their first battle for the both of them, Brandon was only able to challenge her brother in this battle before being beheaded by the blue frame's combat knife._

"Battle ended." The battle system declared.

"Wow kid, I have to admit that Gunpla of yours was very impressive. It must have taken you a couple of weeks minimum to build it like that." an arcade employee said congratulating Jason as he walked up to him.

"It only took me a day to make this." the young Jason explained.

"Really? Then if you choose to keep taking part in Gunpla Battles, then with your clear talent maybe you'll be able to fight that Alex kid at the next national tournament. I even heard that he lives in this city, but that however depends on if he recovers by then." the arcade employee pointed out.

"What happened to him?" the young Brandon asked.

"He got in some kind of accident, and supposedly he'll be in physical therapy for at least a year. A shame too as his career in this new worldwide sensation may have been destroyed before it could even begin." The arcade employee explained.

"Wow that sucks, but hey if he really does live in this city maybe we'll be able to meet him." Brandon pointed out to her brother.

* * *

_Little did the young Brandon know that she would soon meet her idol, and that something they would do together would create a friendship between them that will define them both for years to come, though like many things that's a story for another time. Now that this flashback segment has come to a close, it's time to see what the Brandon of the modern day is doing._

"I appreciate you carrying my backpack, but you don't have to do that." Brandon said not wishing to burden Alex for his kind act, though is actually appreciating it on the inside.

"It's not a big deal, and after what's just happened you could use some kind of relief no matter how small." Alex said as he explained the reasons for his actions.

_You see there are occasions where Alex has to walk himself to school due to his father's hectic work schedule, and on those occasions he would walk the latter half of the journey to school with Brandon should they happen to bump into each other. Such is the case today, and given the stress set upon Brandon by her brother choosing to bow out this year Alex decided to make some kind of kind gesture towards her._

"I know and I'm sorry, but I just can't believe my brother would give up on Gunpla Battles like this. I mean I know you've only met him a few times, but it was the only think he really showed any emotion or zeal towards something. I don't want him to become a recluse for stopping." Brandon tells Alex as she makes the concern she has for her brother clear.

"Haha ah yes you have all the makings of someone with a brother comple….. Ouch what was that for?" Alex said as Brandon suddenly stomped on his foot midsentence.

"No reason….. sigh I just know I'm going to be asked all kinds of questions once we get to school." Brandon said as she shook her head clearly not looking forward to what's to come.

"Well, look at the bright side. At least it'll make the run for the championship title a lot easier." Alex pointed out in an attempt to cheer up his friend.

"No there's no point in me winning like that. Even if say I do end up winning, I'd feel empty on the inside for doing so without having defeated my brother…. or god forbid someone strong enough to defeat him." Brandon explained.

"I see… well I guess I can't blame you for feeling that way." Alex mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Brandon asked having only partially overhead Alex's quiet statement.

"Nothing. So what are we going to do now? Alex retorts.

"I have no…. wait, you watch way more anime then I do in your spare time. You must have seen something similar to my brother's situation at least once, so you must have some idea to get him out of it right?" Brandon asks after getting a sudden stroke of inspiration.

"To be fair you shouldn't compare anime to real life for a variety of reasons, but yes I've seen the situation before and I know how said similar character(s) were brought out of it. Like I said just a second ago this is real life, so I have no idea if it will actually work." Alex explains to Brandon.

"I don't care. Just pitch to me the first idea that comes to your head." Brandon demands.

"Well usually the MC or another main character gets into a battle of some kind with a friend or family member of the depressed character in question. Regardless of the depressed character's associate's strength, the battle is still exciting enough to get his blood stirring. I could go into further detail on this subject, but I know how you get when I start to ramble so I'll just keep it at that." Alex explained.

"Then we could probably do that, but… no actually we should do that. In conjunction with you and the excitement of fighting a never before seen Gunpla, it should be enough to at least appeal to his spirit as a fighter though we'll have to wait and see if it'll be enough to get him out of this funk." Brandon mumbled revealing more though still barely anything about her stroke of inspiration.

"Yeah um, do you want to include me on this idea? Or should I just stand here and continue to look pretty?" Alex interjects.

"Huh? Oh….. sorry. I have an idea, but I'll need you and your new friend Emika to see if she can rent that private space with a battle system again." Brandon explained.

"Oh okay I see where this is going, and yeah I should be able to ask her to do this. When do you want to do it however?" Alex inquired.

"Today, if you don't mind ditching school." Brandon answered.

"Well there is a math test I really want to miss, but….. how exactly are you going to get your brother to show up? In fact where would he be this time of day?" Alex said asking Brandon another question.

"Don't worry, I know how I'm going to get my brother to show up. As for where he is… I have an idea on his whereabouts, and if I know Athrun well enough he should already be heading to the same place as well. If so, that'll actually make things easier." Brandon said as she was ironically the one who went off mumbling.

"Sigh…. guess I better make a phone call." Alex mumbled as he pulls out his cell phone.

* * *

_Where is the somewhat elusive champ Jason Marsh? No seriously, where is the guy? Well some time later laying down on the hillside of one of the hills in one of the parks of this city. Jason is staring at the sky with his mind in the clouds as he thinks about many things, and perhaps one of those things are the American public's reaction to his decision to not seek to keep his title._

"I wonder…. was it worth it? What should I do now with my life?" Jason thought as he closed his eyes in attempt to take a nap.

_The sun or any bright light really when concentrated enough on a thin patch of skin makes it look pink, and such is the case with Jason's eyelids as through his actual eyes he's experiencing the same phenomenon. Then the phenomenon disappears once the shadow of another person is placed over Jason's eyesight causing it to return to darkness. _

"I'd figure you'd be the first one to talk to me asides from my sister." Jason mumbled as if he knew who the owner of the shadow was.

"It's not that surprising. After all, you don't have many friends asides from your sister and I. That, and on this very hillside at this very park was where we first met." Athrun pointed out.

"That's exactly how I knew I'd be right. So what do you want?" Jason asked as he used the momentum caused by thrusting his legs to stand back up.

"To ask you the same thing your sister probably did. Why aren't you going to try for the national tournament this year?" Athrun inquired as if he was trying to hold back his anger, but some of his rage was still able to slip through.

"Hmph, is that all? I wanted to do something else with my life, so I chose to make a clean break of my old one. Is it not my right to choose my fate as a human being? Besides, I didn't get angry at you when you dated my sister." Jason pointed out.

"Personally I think she actually had her eyes on someone else. Quite frankly she probably only said yes so as to not hurt… don't try changing the subject!" Athrun yelled as he manages to catch the wool about to be pulled over his eyes in time.

"Can you blame me for trying? Tell me, why are you still trying so hard even though except for Greco we've been getting creamed at the World Tournament?" Jason asked.

"We both know the top 5 fighters in the USA go to the World Tournament every year, and just because we were unlucky enough to be paired against the heavy hitters right off the bat doesn't mean we should give up trying. As for answering why I'm working so hard, I'm sick and tired of people accusing me of being a cheater simply because of a few coincidental tournament drop outs. I had nothing to do with that, and I'm also tired of the looks my mother gets because of it so I'll win the World Tournament to prove my skill is the real thing! I've told you this before, so why did you even bother to ask?!" Athrun yelled as more of his held in anger started to seep through.

"So I can tell you just how pointless all of it is." Jason said like he doesn't even care if he sets Athrun off.

"You bastard!" Athrun yelled as he lost control of his anger and punched Jason square in the cheek.

"Shouldn't have done that Athrun." Jason said as he recovered from punch, and raised both of his arms in response.

"Stop it you idiots!" a pair of familiar people said.

_Just before this fight could start and potentially get out of hand, Jason was unexpectedly grabbed from behind by his sister while Athrun was tackled to the ground by Alex._

"Fighting with your fists isn't the answer." Alex tells both Athrun and Jason.

"Yeah, and since you two are fighters if you're going to fight at all you should settle your problems with a Gunpla Battle." Brandon suggested as if she already knew where Alex was going.

"Sigh….. how many times do I have to say that I've chosen to get out of that kind of life?" Jason mumbled.

"He he I can't believe….. how fast you two can run." Emika said clearly out of breath as she finally arrived on the scene.

"You're just slow." Alex and Brandon simultaneously said.

"Shut up! You realize that I could still get it trouble for ditching class." Emika yelled somewhat embarrassed by the two friend's simultaneous reply.

"Good thing I claimed that I had a family emergency then." Athrun pointed out after he regained his composure.

"Yes well….. mind letting me in on all the details of your plan now that all of the players have gathered?" Alex curiously asked his friend.

"It's something we haven't done together in a while. We're going to fight one on one in a Gunpla battle." Brandon revealed much to the surprise of everybody else.

"Alright, and it'll be interesting to fight you seriously and see how well you've taken what I taught you. Though…. That depends on if Emika maid the necessary arrangements." Alex said as his sudden rush of excitement was shown on his face.

"Don't worry it's been taken care of." Emika interjects.

"I guess I should be leaving then." Jason mumbled as he started to walk away from this collection of people.

"Oh no you don't!" Brandon yelled as she grabbed her brother by the collar of his shirt.

"I take it this subject will require more than just my own request in order to get you all to drop it?" Jason asked his sister still uninterested in what's going on around him.

"You're going to come with us to watch the battle between the two of us, and if you feel the slightest inkling to join the battle for whatever reason you'll do just that. It's the least you owe me after I covered for you sneaking out at night 3 days ago, and I promise if you do this to stop bothering you about battling again." Brandon firmly tells her brother.

"You're not going to let me leave until I do are you? Sigh… fine I'll agree to your term, but I don't have my Gunpla on me." Jason said defeated as he had no choice but to accept the one path before him.

"That won't be a problem because I have yours in the case right next to mine." Brandon revealed as she tapped the two leather pouches clipped to her waist with her left hand.

* * *

_At this moment if it were an anime this would be the part where everything would blackout for a commercial break, but it isn't though a change in venue is in order. After a short motorized journey later, Emika once again used her significant wealth to secure another private room in the same Gunpla Battle gym that she and Alex were in at the start of the chapter. There's also a small set of bleachers inside this room where Jason is sitting at the highest most seats while Athrun the lowermost ones._

"I think I've already said it, but thanks for doing this Alex." Brandon gratefully said.

"Like how you got your brother here, I agreed because…. thank you. Anyways, I agreed because I owe you for helping me all of those years ago." Alex was saying as Emika passed him the Arios Zeta and its matching GP base.

"This is exciting… it'll be our first real battle as a team." Emika tells Alex.

"About that…. like Brandon I appreciate you getting me out of the depressed state I was in Emika, but could you please just watch this battle from the bleachers?" Alex strongly asks of Emika.

"Why? If it's about that I told you I can handle acting in a support role." A shocked Emika asked in response.

"It isn't about that at all and I promise to tell you some day, but… this battle is something I just have to do alone." Alex explained with a solemn expression.

"If we're going to be a team we have to be willing to give each other some leeway at times, so fine I'll let you do this but I'll keep you to your promise about explaining this to me later." Emika said somewhat pouting at Alex before she took a seat on the bleachers..

"Please set you GP base." The battle system declared before anyone else could say another word.

"Fate has decided to make me watch this battle from start to finish huh? Very well, I'll use the results of this one fight to decide if I go back to that life or not." Jason quietly mumbles to himself as he stares at his dark brown Gunpla case.

"Field 2, Desert." The battle system informed as the actual battle field started to take shape.

_Some of you are probably finding it strange to see given the nature of the GBF universe the same battle field twice in a row. Well before any of you decide to say anything let me just say that this desert isn't just some random collection of rocks. The desert in this case only exists in the outlying parts of the battlefield as at the center is an empty yet still pristine military base, and at the literal centermost point of the battlefield is a tall structure that reaches into the sky and beyond._

"If I'm not mistaken… I believe this is the AEU's orbital elevator from Gundam 00." Alex said clearly recognizing the nostalgic location.

"Ha ha… oh this is perfect." Brandon said as she broke out into a laughing fit in response to their assigned battlefield.

"Is something wrong?" Alex asks.

"No… it's just that this battlefield happens to be a perfect choice for me. Don't worry you'll understand soon enough what I mean." Brandon explained.

"Please set your GP base." The battle system ordered.

"I'm still not at where I once was, but if I'm going to defeat Brandon I'll need to use whatever I have left." Alex thought as he set the Arios Zeta on the GP base.

"Oh? That's not your usual Gunpla." Alex pointed out as he has a subtle yet still noticeable surprised expression on his face.

"In order for me to become even stronger than I am now, I decided to put everything I know about building and battles into this new machine. I've actually practiced with it against the computer, but this battle with you will be it's true maiden voyage." Brandon explained.

"Oh… I see what you meant by what you said then." Alex retorts as his posture returns to battle mode.

"Battle start." The battle system declared.

"Alex Thomas, Arios Zeta, I'm heading out!" Alex yelled.

"Brandon Marsh, Zangetsu Exia! Eliminating the target!" Brandon yelled.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Emika: I know I saw Athrun's battle, but….. so this is the performance of an Elite 4 Gunpla.

Alex: You really have improved over the years.

Brandon: I've taken your lessons to heart.

Alex: Then let's see what you can do!

Athrun: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "Clash of Warriors!"

Emika: So that's the champions Gunpla? The GN Astray.


	8. Clash of Warriors!

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 8**

**Clash of Warriors!**

* * *

_In a last ditched attempt to bring the famed Gunpla fighter Jason Marsh out of his funk and back onto the battlefield, his sister Brandon challenged her friend Alex to a battle to which she hopes will cause Jason's warrior spirit to stir once more. Brandon revealed just before the start of the fight that she'll be using a brand new Gunpla she built, of which is a reflection of her ability and experience. Before I get any further, the next chapter in this tale shall begin just before the previous chapter ended._

"Field 2, Desert." The battle system informed as the actual battle field started to take shape.

_Some of you are probably finding it strange to see given the nature of the GBF universe the same battle field twice in a row. Well before any of you decide to say anything let me just say that this desert isn't just some random collection of rocks. The desert in this case only exists in the outlying parts of the battlefield as at the center is an empty yet still pristine military base, and at the literal centermost point of the battlefield is a tall structure that reaches into the sky and beyond._

"If I'm not mistaken… I believe this is the AEU's orbital elevator from Gundam 00." Alex said clearly recognizing the nostalgic location.

"Ha ha… oh this is perfect." Brandon said as she broke out into a laughing fit in response to their assigned battlefield.

"Is something wrong?" Alex asks.

"No… it's just that this battlefield happens to be a perfect choice for me. Don't worry you'll understand soon enough what I mean." Brandon explained.

"Please set your GP base." The battle system ordered.

"I'm still not at where I once was, but if I'm going to defeat Brandon I'll need to use whatever I have left." Alex thought as he set the Arios Zeta on the GP base.

"Oh? That's not your usual Gunpla." Alex pointed out as he has a subtle yet still noticeable surprised expression on his face.

"In order for me to become even stronger than I am now, I decided to put everything I know about building and battles into this new machine. I've actually practiced with it against the computer, but this battle with you will be its true maiden voyage." Brandon explained.

"Oh… I see what you meant by what you said then." Alex retorts as his posture returns to battle mode.

"Battle start." The battle system declared.

"Alex Thomas, Arios Zeta, I'm heading out!" Alex yelled.

"Brandon Marsh, Zangetsu Exia! Eliminating the target!" Brandon yelled.

_The Zangetsu Exia maintains its anime color scheme with the addition armored of 2 wakizashi styled solid GN blades, two beam sabers built into the armor covering the pelvis, 2 wired throwing knives attached to the rear, a solid GN katana attached to its miniature forearm shield of which is rectangle shaped with round edges compared to the original oval shape, and thrusters built into the legs and just under the GN Drive for increased speed._

"What the…. where is he going? Brandon's gunplay is in plain view for him." Emika said surprised by the fact Alex is blatantly ignoring his opponent.

"Because he wants to humor Brandon." Athrun explained as he happened to be sitting next to Emika.

_Alex decides to somewhat recreate the first episode of Gundam 00 by waiting for her in the very same bleachers near the orbital elevator where Setsuna decimated the Enact. _

"Now where is she?" Alex thought as he scanned the skies directly around the orbital elevator for his opponent.

"Not everything will be exactly like that anime!" Brandon yelled as she along with several alarms appear on Alex's monitors.

_Our hero had barely any time to react as when he turned around he saw the Zangetsu Exia just a few inches away approaching him at a fast pace. Alex was able to in the nick of time block one of Brandon's wakizashis thanks to his shield._

"It's just above superficial, but that short sword was able to do some damage to the shield." Emika mumbled to herself as she notices a few small cuts on the Arios Zeta's shield.

"How could you tell that without acting as an operator?" Athrun asked as he overheard Emika's statement.

"What do you mean? Any serious builder should be able to tell that." Emika said like she was surprised by Athrun's question.

"Maybe I should keep a closer eye on this girl. I can believe it's possible to notice minor damage if the battle system's recording feature is relayed to a large enough screen, but to be able to tell without that is something even I can't do." Athrun thought as he stared at Emika for a moment.

"Impressive." Jason thought as he heard the previously mentioned two's short conversation.

_Getting back to the battle, Brandon draws a beam saber with her free hand and performs an upwards slash as Alex attempts to get some distance from her CQC Gunpla._

"This gunplay… even if it's an Exia is ridiculously fast. It must have taken Brandon a long time to build." Alex thought as he dodged the upwards attack by only a hair's breath.

_Wishing to take advantage of a retreating opponent, Brandon folds back her GN katana and opens fire with the built in rifle mode though it makes little difference as Alex's shield takes little to no damage as it blocks the attack._

"I actually thought that would do more damage." Alex tells Brandon.

"I may have halfheartedly built the rifle portion of the weapon so as to finish the Zangetsu Exia, but don't worry I'll fix that problem after this battle." Brandon retorts as the fight changes over to a ranged battle.

_They both continue to fire at each other as Alex retreats and Brandon continues to charge at him, but due to the Zangetsu Exia's superior speed the distance between them is steadily decreasing._

"Then I'll switch back to the melee." Alex mumbled as he drew his beam saber and realized the futility of his continued retreat.

_Brandon was caught somewhat off guard as Alex began to charge at her. To rectify this, Brandon attempts to switch back over to katana mode but Alex is able to counter that by pressing his own shield against hers._

"I know that any Exia's solid blades are super effective against any Gunpla from 00, so I'm not going to give you the chance to use that big sword of yours!" Alex yelled.

_Alex redraws his beam saber and goes for an upwards slash, but Brandon is also able to dodge this attack by a hair's breathe by tucking in the Zangetsu Exia's body and performing a very gracefull back flip._

"He may know that even CQC Gunpla need some room to attack, but his skills still aren't back to where they used to be so I should be able to win this battle." Brandon thought.

_Refusing to give Brandon even a second to work and with his thrusters operating on overdrive behind him, Alex charges at her again with his beam saber pointed at where she'd land like a knight's jousting lance._

"Did you really think I'd make it that easy for you?!" Brandon yelled as she flew straight up just out of the way of Alex's latest attack.

_Alex flies directly under the Zangetsu Exia as he thrusts the Arios Zeta's beam saber straight up, but Brandon is able to dodge with a quick counter clockwise corkscrew maneuver and attempts to counterattack via a spinning strike with her GN katana. Her opponent Alex is able to counter with a spinning maneuver of his own using both of his beam sabers, of which has the effect of switching the battle back over to a ranged fight as they take to the skies near the orbital elevator._

"Did you know that I gave the Zangetsu Exia its name because I call its main weapon the solid GN katana that?" Brandon asks as she and Alex continue to trade shots.

"How could I? This is the first time you've shown me this Gunpla." Alex retorts as he tries very carefully to close the distance between them.

"I just had to ask before I showed you the first of my trump cards." Brandon explained as she raised her GN katana in the air.

_A bluish white glow appears around the Zangetsu Exia's main blade as it gathers blue and white particles from the surrounding area._

"No don't you idiot!" Emika yelled as Alex once more charges at what he sees as an opening in his opponent's defense.

"Too slow!" Brandon yelled as he she slashes the GN katana straight down.

_The Arios Zeta was only a few inches away when the energy in the Exia's blade was released as a beam of energy, but thankfully Alex's shield was able to take the brunt of the attack though not without being severely charred and pushed back several feet._

"That's unexpected." Jason thought.

"What the heck was that?" a shocked Athrun said.

"Despite the need to repaint it the shield made it out of that mostly unharmed, but it put a lot of stress on the Arios Zeta's joint. My guess is that it can take 4 or 5 more attacks before one or the other gives under the strain. It's also clear that after this battle I'll need to improve the thruster design." Emika mumbled.

"What was that attack?" Alex asks as he urgently puts some distance between him and Brandon.

"I gather the simulated GN particles and the Plavsky particles into my blade, and then it gets released again as a high density crescent wave energy beam. That my friend is Zangetsu's power." Brandon explained as she raised her GN katana into the air again.

"That's going to be a pain to work around. Wait… where have I heard that explanation before?" Alex thought as a sense of déjà vu passed over him.

_Wishing to be way out of range of Brandon's next attack Alex decides to put a major amount of distance between the two of them, but all of a sudden he's pulled back like there was some kind of invisible tether between him and Brandon._

"Why can't I get away?" Brandon mumbled as he steadily increased the power he put into the thrusters.

"Pay attention to your shield and you'll get your answer." Brandon revealed.

"When did you…." Alex was saying out of shock as he glanced at his shield.

_The reason Alex was saying stuff out of shock was due to that when he turned to look at his shield, he saw a dagger attached to a very thin almost invisible wire wrapped around it a few times over._

"While you were distracted by the first shot from my Gunpla's katana, I pulled this out and tossed it around your shield as the first shot dissipated. Now we'll see if you can dodge the second." Brandon explained as she fired off another shot from her first trump card.

_In what appears to be an attempt to break the tether through sheer brute force, Alex sets the thrusters to maximum as he tries to fly off in the opposite direction in which he is facing._

"It's pointless to try and get away!" Brandon yelled.

"I wasn't trying to get away… or at least not in the way you think." Alex retorts.

_Alex flies as close as he can to the beam the Zangetsu Exia fired off without getting damaged by it, but at the last minute when the beam was about to pass him Alex with one final burst of speed cuts across the beam which in turn cuts the tether linking him to Brandon._

"I have to get some distance, and come up with a new plan." Alex thought as he switched the Arios Zeta to fighter form and retreated into the interior of the orbital elevator.

_After a few minutes Alex carefully sticks his head out of one of the openings in the elevator, and finds Brandon carefully ascending the exterior of the elevator while looking for him and keeping the Zangetsu Exia's katana raised as it swells with more power each second._

"She changing directions at random as she climbs to a higher altitude, so if I try blatantly rushing I run the risk of being cut in half. Maybe if I get her attention and circle around via the interior of the elevator I can catch her off guard. No I have to try that since it is the only play I can make right now." Alex thought.

_Our hero has Brandon hurry her ascent with multiple carefully times provocations in the form of making it seem like he's going to charge at her. Alex's goal is to make Brandon go as high as possible without flying out of boundaries himself, and although he knows that it leaves him with less room to dodge Brandon's trump card_ _it also gives Brandon the same problem should her attack miss making the benefits worth the risk. _

"No I'm over here!" Alex yelled deciding to stop the charade as he decided to finally charge at Brandon again.

"Hmrph." Brandon smirks with a sly grin on her face as she flies right past Alex and continues flying up the exterior of the elevator.

_Rather than continue the charge, Alex switches back keeping distance from Brandon as he tries to figure out what she has planned. In regards to what Brandon actually had planned however, she purposefully flies as high as she can go without ringing herself out and fires another shot from her trump card straight up. Now technically the shot itself is no longer in the arena, but you can see it continue to climb as it reaches the stratosphere and beyond. Once the shot was fired, Brandon switches her GN katana back over to rifle mode and ignites a beam saber with her other hand and decides to charge at Alex herself._

"Why did you just randomly launch that attack into the air?" Alex asks as he and Brandon continue to trade blows.

_Deciding to somewhat toss caution to the wind, Alex engages Brandon in an intense sword duel between his dual wielding style and Brandon single wielding style._

"Oh believe me that was a calculated move, and if I did the math correctly you should see why I did that in 3… 2… 1…" Brandon was saying as an even bigger grin appeared on her face.

"Stage change." The battle system declared via a pop up in front of both fighter's controls.

"What kind of stage change?" Alex asks himself.

"Look up." Brandon said as he had her Gunpla's finger point in the previously described direction.

_As Alex and the three people watching this fight looked up, they saw fragments of the orbital elevator's exterior components falling from the simulated sky as they enter the battle field._

"I launched that attack high up on purpose to engage the tower's auto purge mode. These fragments will restrict your aerial mobility more that it does my cqc mobility, so all and all this gives me an advantage." Brandon explained.

"For you to be able to do that with just a mobile suit type Gunpla, that must mean your first trump card works on a charge shot mechanic." Alex pointed out.

"You're correct as the longer I charge the more powerful the shot though the longer the cool down time, and at its maximum I can fire a shot equivalent to roughly 1/3 the destructive force of a Gundam X's hyper satellite cannon." Brandon explained.

"That's going to be scary to deal with all these obstacles blocking my vision, and given her unknown second trump card it could be a double whammy as well." Alex thought as he worked his way around the falling debris.

"Now let's see what you can do in here!" Brandon yelled as she charged at Alex with a beam saber in one hand and a solid wakizashi in the other.

_Despite the unusual attack combination of a long and short blade Alex is able to hold his own against Brandon's attack, but given how the deck is stacked against him he also knows that he has to make some kind of major move soon in order to reverse the situation._

"Fine have it your way sister." Jason thought as he got up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Athrun asks as he took notice of that fact.

"Bathroom. I've been holding it in all day, but I won't miss much of the fight as I'm not doing that." Jason answered.

"Strage…." Emika mumbled as her eyes were practically glued to the battle system.

"What is? Jason having to go to the bathroom?" Athrun asked as he overheard what Emika said as well.

"Wha…. no that's gross. I was referring to the way Alex and Brandon are moving their Gunpla. Granted there are some differences simply because of what combat type their Gunpla are, but if you look closely you can see that…." Emika was saying.

"That there basic maneuvers are very similar if not exactly the same. That's what you were going to say right?" Athrun asks as he interrupted Emika like he knew what she was going to say next.

"Are you sure you can't read minds?" a surprised Emika retorts.

"No I just knew were you were going with that question. Anyways, the reason that Brandon and Alex have similar basic techniques was because that Alex taught Brandon the basics and some intermediate level techniques about moving a Gunpla." Athrun explained.

"Wow I didn't know he could be a teacher as well, but how do you know about it?" Emika asks.

"Brandon told me the story while we used to be a couple. Now I may be a bit off with who said what, but it more or less went off like this…" Athrun was saying as he signaled the start of a flash back sequence.

* * *

_I recall promising you all that I'd tell the tale of how exactly Brandon and Alex first met and that tale begins now. Alex had spent the two years after his accident and the reconstructive surgery performed on his hands in physical therapy for the purpose of regaining as much use in them as possible. Then after he was finally released from physical therapy, Alex was decimated in the first Gunpla tournament he entered due to the horrible build quality of his Gunpla, to which caused him to enter a depressed state. While in that depressed state he would spend his days on the swing set in a park near where he lives as he literally swung in a pool of his own depression._

"It's not fair that I can't be a fighter again. If it wasn't for that girl who bumped into me, I'd be at the first Gunpla World Tournament by now." The young Alex thought.

_As the young Alex sat there on the swing set, he could see people building Gunpla at park tables and little kids spread throughout the park recreating scenes from the different Gundam anime using the power of their own imagination._

"I swear if I ever see her again I'll… I'll… oh who am I kidding I don't know what I would do, but I really do ever see her again I know I'll do something." The young Alex thought as he kicked and stared the sand below him out of anger.

"Watch out!" a young girl yelled.

"Wha…." was all that the young Alex could say before being nailed in the head and knocked out of the swings by a small red ball.

_Despite the head trauma somewhat blurring his vision, the young Alex saw as he was flat on his back the silhouette of a girl his age that also had crimson red hair._

"Ahh I'm so sorry. I was just bouncing my ball on the sidewalk, and I guess I threw it too hard the last time and lost control." The young girl explained as she helped Alex up.

"I don't care." The young Alex said although he did appreciate the girl's help.

"What do you mean you don't care? If the same thing happened to me I'd probably be annoyed at the very…. hey you're the former champion Alex Thomas the one who won the first Gunpla national tournament." The young girl shockingly realized.

"Former is right since some guy named Jason Marsh won the last one. Anyways what you want an autograph or something?" the young Alex somewhat rudely asks.

"That's my big bro for you. He's only been a fighter for a few years and he plus 4 others are representing our country in the first world tournament." The young girl said out of admiration.

"Your brother?" the young Alex asked.

"Yup. My name is Brandon Marsh, and one of these days I'm going to surpass my brother and become the national then world champion myself. Say why weren't you at the national tournament this year? I heard that you finished your course of physical therapy." The young Brandon happily said.

"Because with how I am now I couldn't even hack it at the regional level." The young Alex explained.

"That really sucks. Can you help me with something since you have nothing better to do?" the young Brandon asked.

"Like what?" the young Alex cautiously asks in turn.

"The truth is that I'm as my brother calls it 'too scatterbrained' with each of my moves. He says that I need to find a pattern of moves that suit me and master them." The young Brandon explained.

"What does that have to do with me?" the young Alex asks in hopes that dealing with Brandon's issue will get her to leave him alone sooner.

"I can't figure out what he meant, so I was hoping you could translate for me please?" the young Brandon explained.

"You need to stop dividing your points across every skill tree, and instead just dump them all into one." the young Alex answered.

"Huh?" the young Brandon asks clearly not understanding Alex's explanation.

"Pick a battle style that works for you, stick with it, and master its techniques from the bottom up. I think that's what your brother meant." the young Alex explained after pondering over the issue for a moment.

"Oh that makes much more sense. Say I know we just met, but can you help me out with that? I don't exactly know how to differ between battle styles. There's a shop where we can rent Gunpla for a small fee down the hill. So are you up to showing me a few moves? I mean I know you've been out of commission for a couple of years, but you're still one of the first greats of the game." The young Brandon asks via a long winded speech.

"…..Fine." the young Alex said in a tone that clearly indicates he wants to be left alone, but Brandon is completely ignorant to it.

_A short walk, 2 cases of parental approval, and one small rental fee later Alex and Brandon are already using a battle system set to an obstacle course mode inside a colony. Alex is using a RGZ-95 ReZEL in standard colors while Brandon is using an RGM-89 Jegan also in standard colors._

"Go ahead and show me what you can do." The young Alex said as he appeared on Brandon's view screen.

"Could you please go first instead? I want to have an idea of what I need to work up to." The young Brandon asks.

"Very well." The young Alex said.

_Though still a bit rusty when it comes to moving a Gunpla at this point in time, Alex is still able to finish the obstacle course quickly and with grace._

"Your time was 39 seconds and your accuracy was 92 percent. Even if you haven't had a serious battle in such a long time, that's still a very impressive score." The young Brandon said out of amazement.

"This obstacle course is meant for beginners, so it's really not that impressive." The young Alex explained.

"Really? It looked hard to me." The young Brandon retorts.

"It would to someone who's a beginner." The young Alex pointed out as he put some emphasis on the last word of the sentence.

"Well let me show you what I can do." The young Brandon said looking forward to the challenge before her.

"Your time is…. wow that's bad." The young Alex said as he looked over Brandon's results.

"Well don't beat around the bush. What are they?" the young Brandon demands to know.

"Time: 3 minutes 42 seconds. Accuracy: 56%." The young Alex said.

"What?! I've been at this for 2 years now, so there's no way I could be that bad." The young Brandon said clearly shocked by her results.

"I wouldn't judge yourself so harshly. I've heard via the internet that there are fighters who have horrible obstacle course scores, but perform at a high level during fights. That could be the case with you, so let's switch to an actual battle now." The young Alex suggests.

_After waiting in line again for other customers to have their turn with the battle systems, Alex and Brandon have their turn for a serious battle only this time it's in space near the PLANTs. Their battle has already gone for a couple of minutes, but it seems like Alex is putting very little effort into dodging Brandon's attacks because that's all it's taking to actually dodge them._

"Hold still so I can hit you!" the young Brandon yelled as she tried bust missed to his Alex with her Jegan's beam saber.

"In a real fight your opponent won't pain a target on themselves for you, so you're going to have to learn to strike where they will be and hope you're right." The young Alex said as he only makes small sidesteps to dodge Brandon's attacks.

"Then let's try this on for size." The young Brandon said as she switched over to the Jegan's beam rifle.

"Not fast enough." The young Alex mumbled.

_With a thruster powered shoulder tackle, Alex is able to knock Brandon's Jegan off balance in this space environment, and uses the opening it creates to have his rented ReZEL steal her weapons to use against her._

"Not yet." The young Brandon said refusing to give up.

"It's over." The young Alex said.

_The reason Alex said as such was that by the time Brandon regained her composure Alex already had Brandon's beam saber poised to cut off her head and her beam rifle ready to shoot Brandon through the cockpit if it were an actual mobile suit._

"Aw man I really do have a lot to learn." The young Brandon said as she mulled over her humiliating defeat.

"When can you come here again?" the young Alex asked.

"Probably a couple of days or the following weekend. Why do you asked?" The young Brandon answered.

"Because I can't let someone so horrible fight in Gunpla Battles, so I'm going to teach you the basics to prevent you from sucking so bad. If I leave you alone to try and figure things out on your own it'll just be an insult to the game" the young Alex said.

"Hey!" the young Brandon yelled as she stomped on Alex's foot.

"Ouch, what was that for?" the young Alex said as he jumped back reeling from pain.

"You know why, and thanks." The young Brandon said.

* * *

_And as this whole flash back sequence went on, Alex and Brandon's fight in modern times continue to heat up as over the past several minutes they continue to fly around and clash between the falling elevator fragments. Thanks to her GN katana Brandon has no trouble cutting through some of the larger fragments as she pursues Alex, but Alex himself has trouble putting one over on Brandon as he's only able to cut through the smallest of fragments with his beam saber while working around the larger fragments._

"….And it's through Alex's repeated pity lessons that Brandon was able to bring him out of his depression and he even smiles and burst out into laughter after one of their last ones, so you see it's because of this that Alex feels like he owes Brandon this much." Athrun explained to Emika as he finally concluded this long winded battle sequence.

"This is becoming more challenging than I thought it would be. I might be able to move faster in fighter mode, but as Brandon said aerial mobility is restricted with all of this debris." Alex thought as he continued to try and catch up to his opponent in all of this falling orbital elevator debris.

"Got you!" Brandon yelled.

_Just as Alex passed by one of the larger fragments into an open space between all of the other fragments, Brandon threw her other wired dagger which embedded itself into the Arios Zeta's shield and through the shield the fragment of debris behind the Gunpla. _

"Oh shit." Alex thought as he tried to pull himself loose.

"Thanks for helping me and I hope this was enough to get my brother's warrior spirit to stir, but it's time to end this." Brandon declared as she raised her GN Katana in the air.

"Dammit why won't this cable break?" Alex asks himself as he tries to cut it with the Arios Zeta's beam saber.

"Sorry, but it'll take more fire power than that. The wire is made out of some extraordinarily heat resistant material, so you'll either a high output gun or the beam saber from a well-built Gunpla who's base model was high output mobile suit." Brandon explained.

_The momentum being generated by Alex being pinned to the falling debris caused it to pull a 180 leaving him out of Brandon's view, but that wasn't going to stop her from firing another shot from her trump card weapon._

"Got you for once….. What the hell?" Brandon thought as her own little Getsuga Tenshō cut the piece of falling debris Alex was supposedly attached to.

_As for the reason Brandon chose to use that particular swear word, the piece that was the now cut in two debris fragment pulled another 180 due to her attack revealing that the only thing attached to it was the Arios Zeta's shield._

"I managed to detach the shield in the nick of time." Alex explained as his face popped up on Brandon's view screen.

"Why don't you tell me where you are so I can fix that?" Brandon retorts as she tries to get some witty banter going between the two of them.

"Sure I'm right behind you!" Alex yelled.

_As Brandon turned around she saw that the Arios Zeta had noticeable signs of damage. It was nothing to significantly affect the performance off the Gunpla, but it's clear that it was the result of Alex using the Arios Zeta's fighter mode in order to be able to get quickly behind Brandon. Getting back on topic, it was clear given how close Alex was that he intended to cut off the Zangetsu Exia's right arm where her GN Katana was attached to with his beam saber. Unfortunately for Brandon, she was unable to react in time to be able to prevent that limb from being cut off._

"You may say you're still a bit rusty, but in actuality or rather my opinion you haven't lost your touch at all. Also I wasn't planning to use it here, but you're going to get to see my second trump card right here." Brandon revealed as plavsky particles began to gather around the back of the Zangetsu Exia where the GN drive would be if this were an actual mobile suit.

"Like hell I'm going to let you use it!" Alex yelled as it was now his turn to truly be on the offensive.

_Brandon kept her eyes on Alex as she backed away from him while preparing her second trump card, but that turned out to be a mistake as due to not looking at the obstacles in front of her she ended up backing up her Gunpla right into a piece of debris stunning it somewhat._

"Oh dam." Brandon mumbled as she knew she was effectively screwed.

_Brandon couldn't help but close her eyes as she saw Alex's oncoming out of fear of imminent death or rather fear of her Gunpla's imminent destruction. Then all of a sudden what should have been the killing blow was blocked by a large buster sword._

"I apologize for interrupting your battle but I won't allow my sister's Gunpla to be damaged any further." Jason shockingly revealed as his face appeared on both Brandon and Alex's view screen.

"So have you finally gotten back into the battle?" Alex asks thinking Brandon's plan had worked.

"Don't get ahead of yourself I still intend to stop with these Gunpla battles. I'm only interfering because though I've chosen to stop I'll still respect and support my sister's choice to keep fighting in Gunpla battles. I saw how hard my sister worked building the Zangetsu Exia, so If I can help it I won't see all that work go to waste by having you destroy it." Jason explained.

_Meanwhile on the outside of these bleachers Emika and Athrun stand up from their seats in shock at what had just occurred._

"I've never seen such a Gunpla before." Emika said in amazement as she looks at the champion's Gunpla.

"Based off of the MBF-P03secondL Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L, Jason's Gunpla the GN Astray." Athrun said with an equal amount of amazement.

"GN, so it has some 00 components mixed in with it?" Emika inquired.

"He gave it that name before Gundam 00 was even announced, so the 'GN' in the name is just a coincidence. His Gunpla's full model designation is the MBF-P03BsecondL Gundam Great Nature Astray." Athrun explained.

_To illustrate the nature concept in which it was named after the GN Astray has a leaf green and okay wooden brown color scheme, the combat knifes attached to its hips have been replaced with a pair of MA-M02G 'Super Lacerta' beam sabers, the shoulder armor has been redesigned to be more compact allowing the arms greater freedom of movement, the Gatling gun attached to its tactical arms have been replaced with a customized version of a certain high output beam rifle, the sword portion of the tactical arms are attached vertically instead of horizontally with thrusters attached to the back of the blades for increased speed, and given how Jason is blocking Alex's attack with one half of the GN Astray's 20 meter blade they can also now be used separately. _

"This falling debris is getting in the way, so I'd better take care of that." Brandon mumbled.

"How exactly do you intend to do that?" Alex asks.

"You've seen me fight, so you know exactly how I'm going to do that." Jason retorts as grabs his beam rifle after it detaches from his tactical arms.

"Wait….. I didn't recognize it at first from that angle, but that's a modified version of the Wing Gundam Zero's twin buster rifle." Emika shockingly discovered.

"Now you little space fragments… get out of my way." Jason quietly said as he pulled the buster rifle's trigger.

_Continuing to block Alex's beam saber as if it were nothing more than a minor annoyance, Jason fires his Astray's modified twin buster rifle 3 times destroying most of the still falling debris around them proving that he built the weapon to match its reputation._

"How….. just how am I going to defeat something with that kind of power? What the….. my hands are shaking…. is this…. Is this the fear of death? This isn't a battle for my life, so how can that be?" Alex thought as he couldn't stop his hands from moving.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Jason: Is this all you can do? I expected more from the first national champion.

Emika: Don't underestimate the Gunpla I built.

Alex: And don't underestimate my ability to fight with it.

Brandon: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "The Champion's Resolve!"

Athrun: I don't believe it… the battle is a...

**Author Note: I've created a new poll which is available to see on my profile page. The question is "****Would you like to see a battle between the Sengoku Astray and the GN Astray down the road?", so if you have an answer please vote.**


	9. A Champion's Resolve

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 9**

**The Champion's Resolve**

* * *

_Due to wanting to help Jason Marsh get out of his funk, Alex had agreed to a true one on one battle with his friend and Jason's sister Brandon. The Zangetsu Exia and the Arios Zeta had an intense clash despite having to battle in falling debris, however right when the battle was about to end with Alex's victory Jason steps in with his gunpla the Great Nature Astray to block the killing blow. Jason declared that he was only interested in ending the battle for his sister's sake, so now it's up to Alex to ensure that Jason joins future battles. Now the newest chapter in this tale begins right at when all of this happened._

"You may say you're still a bit rusty, but in actuality or rather my opinion you haven't lost your touch at all. Also I wasn't planning to use it right here, but you're going to get to see my second trump card right now!" Brandon declared as plavsky particles began to gather around the back of the Zangetsu Exia where the GN drive would be if this were an actual mobile suit.

"Like hell I'm going to let you use it!" Alex yelled as it was now his turn to be on the offensive.

_Brandon kept her eyes on Alex as she backed away from him while preparing her second trump card, but that turned out to be a mistake as due to not looking at the obstacles in front of her she ended up backing up her Gunpla right into a piece of debris stunning it somewhat._

"Oh dam." Brandon thought as she knew she was about to be screwed.

_Brandon couldn't help but close her eyes as she saw Alex's oncoming beam saber out of fear of imminent death or rather fear of her Gunpla's imminent destruction. Then all of a sudden what should have been the killing blow was blocked by a large buster sword._

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I won't allow you to damage my sister's Gunpla any further." Jason shockingly revealed as his face appeared on both Alex and Brandon's view screen.

"Have you finally gotten out of whatever funk you were in?" Alex asks due to thinking Brandon's plan had worked.

"Don't be foolish. I'm merely doing my duty as a big brother, and am stopping you from destroying the Zangetsu Exia a gunpla in which my sister worked hard to build." Jason explained.

_Meanwhile on the outside of this battle system, Emika and Athrun are standing up out off their seats in shock at what had just occurred._

"I've never seen a Gunpla like this before." Emika said in amazement as she stares in awe at Jason's Gunpla.

"Based off of the MBF-P03secondL Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L, Jason's Gunpla the GN Astray one of which I've never managed to beat." Athrun said with an equal amount of awe.

"GN? Does that mean it was made with parts from 00 Gunpla?" Emika curiously inquired.

"No….. actually he gave it that name before Gundam 00 was even announced, so the 'GN' in the name is just a coincidence you see. His Gunpla's full model designation is the MBF-P03BsecondL Gundam Great Nature Astray." Athrun explained.

_To give you a better idea of the nature concept in which the GN astray was named after… it has a leaf green and oaky brown color scheme, the combat knives have been replaced with a pair of MA-M02G "Super Lacerta" beam sabers, the shoulder armor has been redesigned to be more compact allowing the arms greater freedom of movement, the Gatling gun attached to the tactical arms have been replaced with a customized version of the Wing Zero's twin buster rifle, the sword portion of the tactical arms is vertically attached to the back, thrusters are built into the inline of the blade for increased speed, and as Jason is proving the buster sword can be used as two separate blades if necessary_

"This falling debris is getting annoying, so I'd better take care of that_._" Jason mumbled to himself.

"How exactly do you plan to do that?" Alex asks.

"You've seen me fight, so you already know exactly how I'm going to do that." Jason retorts as he grabs his twin buster rifle after it detaches from his tactical arms.

"Wait…. I didn't recognize it at first from that angle, but that's a modified version of the Wing Zero's twin buster rifle." Emika shockingly discovered.

"Now you little space fragments…. get out of my way." Jason whispered as he pulled the twin buster rifle's trigger.

_Continuing to block Alex's beam saber as if it were nothing more than a toothpick trying to penetrate steel, Jason fires his Astray's modified twin buster rifle 3 times destroying most of the still falling debris around them and proving that the weapon he built matches the reputation of the one he based it off of._

"How…. just how am I going to defeat something with that kind of power? What the… my hands are shaking…. Is this….. is this the fear of death? This isn't a battle for my life, so how's that possible?" Alex thought as he still couldn't stop his hands from moving.

"Can you make it out of the ring alright?" Jason asks his sister.

"Yeah, but are you sure you want to do this?" Brandon retorts.

"Make no mistake…. simply because I'm doing this doesn't mean your plan is working." Jason pointed out.

"Sorry Alex, but you're on your own from here." Brandon tells her friend.

_Brandon is able to catch her flying gunpla as it rings itself out of the battle system like a pitcher throwing a fastball. Then once her Gunpla is secure in a case, she takes a seat on the bleachers next to Emika on the other side of Athrun._

"It looks like your plan failed Brandon." Athrun pointed out.

"I'm sorry about that." Emika followed.

"Not necessarily…. Did Jason go to the bathroom before he joined the battle?" Brandon inquired.

"Now that you mention yes, but how is that important?" Emika answered.

"He may not necessarily need to 'go' with each case, but by brother has a habit of going to the bathroom before any battle he considers truly important. If he really only joined for the half assed excuse he gave then he wouldn't have bothered with that habit." Brandon explained.

"Then your plan has worked." Emika said.

"Again, not necessarily. He may consider this battle important, but it's still up to Alex to bring him completely back." Brandon explained.

"So shall we begin?" Jason said before charging at Alex.

"Ha ha ha it's been such a long time since I've felt this kind of fear!" Alex said as he suddenly busts out laughing.

"What the…. you say you're afraid, so why are you laughing like you're enjoying it?" Jason curiously asks.

"Quite simply because I am, and it's a feeling you yourself should understand. Feeling intense fear after seeing an opponent with overwhelming power, and the excitement that comes with fighting that kind of person. It's one of the types of battles any true fighter will want to have." Alex explained smiling as his blood stirs with excitement.

"Unfortunately I don't remember what that feels like. Now let's get this over with." Jason said before charging at Alex.

"Yes lets." Alex said as he drew both of his beam sabers.

_Meanwhile in the bleachers…_

"What is thinking charging straight at him? There's no way he can beat that Gunpla fighting straight on." Emika points out.

"He knows Emika, but he just doesn't care." Brandon followed.

_Jason decides to use one half of his buster sword as a shield and the other half as an actual sword. Simply put this is going to be a sword duel between Jason's pure power, and Alex's sheer attack speed._

"Even if you're a rusty former champion I'm still not impressed." Jason said as continues to block all of Alex's strikes.

"Let's try a game of tag then." Alex said as he flies right into what's left of the falling debris.

"That idiot! He already damaged himself just to get you, so why is he going back into the falling elevator fragments?" Emika tells Brandon.

"He's actually being pretty smart by doing that. Jason built the GN Astray to focus on power and speed and not speed or mobility, so by forcing Jason to deal with the falling orbital elevator fragments directly Alex has created more openings for him to attack." Athrun explained.

_With each fragment Jason is forced to slice in half or shoot through it does indeed create an opening for Alex to use, but Jason is still able to block fast enough where he only takes grazing damage with each attempt. Alex ends up approaching Jason from behind with his latest one._

"Oh dam." Alex mumbled as he realized he was in the line of fire of the twin buster rifle on Jason's back.

"Fool." Jason mumbles.

_Alex is able to maneuver out of the way before he was almost literally backfired into oblivion, however his Gunpla's right arm was destroyed due to his failure to react fast enough. Though the shock of losing an arm throws him off somewhat, Alex continues to charge at Jason due to seeing an opening._

"You've left yourself open!" Alex yelled as he rises just up over the GN Astray's front.

_Alex is able to embed the beam saber directly into the shoulder of the GN Astray and hopefully into the center of its body as indented, so now it's a matter of cutting the rest of the way through._

"No this fight is over." Jason declared.

_Due to having only one arm on his gunpla; Alex had no choice but to reposition himself in order to be able to cleave the GN Astray in two, however Jason is able to end the battle before that by drawing one of his super lacerta beam sabers and cleave the Arios Zeta in two instead._

"Battle ended." The battle system declared.

"I…. lost." Alex quitley mumbled as he was shocked by the fact he lost so abruptly.

"I'm going home." Jason said leaving the private room after taking his Gunpla with him.

"Look you did your best. I mean you had to fight one battle after the other without time for repairs, so it's not your fault." Emika said as she placed her hand on Alex's.

"No it wouldn't have mattered." Alex said.

"What do you mean?" Emika inquired.

"I got to excited and made mistakes, and despite what other people say I'm still not at where I used to be but it doesn't matter. Even if I was at my lost skill level right now and even if the Arios Zeta was in top shape….. I still would have lost badly to Jason. Right now he's just that much stronger than me." Alex explained.

"So are you giving up on Gunpla battles like Jason?" Athrun inquired.

"Hell no…. I've just underestimated how hard I'll have to work is all." Alex answered.

"I'm sorry as well." Emika said.

"For what? I'm the one who lost." Alex curiously asks.

"I see now that despite what talent I have as a builder, I still understand very little about the nature of battle and of fighters." Emika answered.

"Well if this is still going to be a sorry fest, I'm sorry I couldn't help your brother Brandon." Alex tells his friend.

"Well I guess I know you tried. All I can do now is just hope you made some kind of impression on him." Brandon said as she scratched the back of his head.

* * *

_As everyone leaves this private room and seemingly goes their own way, Jason is still walking home. He decided to take the scenic route home, of which happens to run through the very same park where Brandon and Alex first met._

"Alex's last attack was strange…." Jason mumbled as he thought back to the battle.

_Suddenly the image of Alex embedding his beam saber in the GN Astray replays in Jason's mind._

"I couldn't react like I was powerless to stop it, so if he had his other arm to pull on the beam saber I would have lost. Was the fear I felt at that moment the same fear Alex was referring to?" Jason thought.

"Stop don't move your foot!" a young boy yelled.

_Jason immediately stopped moving, and looked under his left foot only to find what he recognized as an incomplete buster sword from the blue astray secondL the bade made of his own Gunpla._

"Is this yours?" Jason asked as he picked up the incomplete weapon after the boy it belonged to ran up to him.

"Yeah I accidently launched it over here on a spoon while I was working on it with my sister on that….. You're Jason Marsh wow I can't believe I'm meeting my hero in person." The young boy said out of shock and awe after realizing who he was talking to.

"I'm no hero just a retired battler." Jason said to downplay the boy's attention.

"Are you kidding me? You're a legendary fighter for winning the last six national tournaments." The young boy said not caring at all about Jason's current position on Gunpla battles.

"Thanks I guess….. Say why am I your hero anyway?" Jason asks.

"I've watched all of your matches on TV, but I guess I'd have to say it's because of last year's final match. It was the most epic of your past battles with Athrun Castleton." The young boy said with childlike amazement.

"I remember that's the closest he's ever come to beating me." Jason mumbled as he starts to think back to that battle.

_1 year ago in Las Vegas in a stadium specially built just for Gunpla Battles, the crowd inside that stadium is roaring with excitement as the final math of the 9__th__ USA Gunpla Battle national tournament is underway. The battle between Athrun's Flame Saviour and Jason's GN Astray continues to rage on._

"It's as if shockwaves fill the stadium each time these two fighters clash." One commentator said.

"No real USA Gunpla fan can come to the national tournament and not watch these two fighters go against each other." A second commentator announced.

"But the question remains the same between these two as it has been for the last few years. Will Jason prevail and continue to defend his title? Or will a victory by Athrun lead to a changing of the guard? Watch this battle closely gunpla fans because we'll find out." The first announcer yelled.

"Today's the day you lose your title!" Athrun yelled.

"You failed to take it from me last year, and you're going to fail to take it from me now!" Jason yelled.

_Athrun fires off his Flame Saviour's Amfortas plasma beam cannons, of which match the gunpla's name due to its flaming red color. Anyways, Jason counters by separating the twin buster rifle into two and firing them separately to nullify the attack._

"You'll never be able to defeat the GN Astray in close combat!" Jason yelled as he brought his Gunpla closer to Athrun's.

"There's a first time for everything!" Athrun yelled as he drew a beam saber for a little sword and shield combat action.

_Jason responds to Athrun's sword and shield approach by dual wielding both halves of his buster sword. The half of the buster sword in the GN Astray's right hand almost immediately comes into contact with the Flame Saviour's shield, but it fails to be able to slice it in two._

"It's not going to work. I built that shield just to take the kinetic force of your buster sword." Athrun explained.

"I'm impressed. The materials required to make such a shield must have been very expensive for you." Jason retorts.

"Thank the budget of Clancy Academy's model building club." Athruns tells Jason.

_Now Jason attempts to slice off the arms of Athrun's gunpla with the two large blades of his twin buster sword, but Athrun much to Jason's surprise has a counter._

"Eat this!" Athrun yelled as he brings his Amfortas cannons to bear.

_Caught off guard by Athrun's unexpected counter, Jason is unable to do anything as the Amfortas plasma beam cannons punch a large hole through Jason's blades rendering them useless._

"I still have the lacerta beam sabers." Jason thought as he drew two of the aforementioned weapon.

_Now the final match of this national tournament becomes a back and forth dual wielding fight, but Jason is at a disadvantage due to not being used to using such lightweight weaponry._

"Unlike you I actually practice with my backup weapons just in case something like this happens." Athrun explains as he begins to strike more aggressively with his beam sabers.

_Due to being so unused to these lightweight weapons, Jason miscalculates how much force to put behind a swing and it ends up costing him the GN Astray's left arm. _

"Ohhhh by cutting off one of Jason's arms, Athrun has inflicted disadvantage on him." the first commentator announced.

"But can Athrun take use of the advantage this has created for him?" the second commentator followed.

_Not wasting any time, Jason has the GN Astray's shoulder tackle the Flame Saviour right into a building, and before Athrun could react Jason is able to slice off the Flame Saviour's head bringing this battle to a sudden close._

"I guess not because the battle is already over." The second commentator announced.

"I give you the winner of the 9th USA Gunpla Battle National Tournament, our country's main representative in the 6th world tournament, and still reigning champion Jason Marsh!" the first commentator yelled into his microphone at the top of his lungs.

_And as Jason holds the championship trophy for the 6__th__ time in his life, this battle flashback sequence has come to an end. Jason now stands back in modern times thinking about what to do next._

"Um are you alright Jason?" the young boy asks with concern.

"I'm fine I just got lost in the past for a moment." Jason answered.

"Oh that's good. I was almost worried there for a second." the young boy said with a relieved look on his face.

"Say kid why am I still your hero? I mean wouldn't you prefer to root for someone who's still trying for nationals and the world beyond?" Jason asks.

"To be honest I was a little sad when I found out you wouldn't be entering this year, but greats at any game have to throw in the towel forever at some point. You're still one of the greatest battlers who ever lived with records matched by very few from other countries, and once its complete fighting with the Gunpla that started it all for you is good enough for me." the young kid answered.

"Kid, if you're going to fight with that Gunpla then if you want I'll help you finish it so it can be the best it can be." Jason offered.

"Oh my god really? My friends will be so jealous when I tell them Jason Marsh helped me build my gunpla." The young boy said happily.

"Yes really…. retired or not I still have my honor." Jason tells the young boy.

"Then come on….. oh I've got to introduce you to my sister she'll be so excited to meet you as well." the young boy said as he started pulling Jason by the arm.

_With Jason's guidance and expertise, the young boy and his sister are able to finish the Blue Astray SecondL within a couple of hours. The timing is so perfect that they also finish the gunpla just as the young boy and girl's father arrives to take them home._

"Good bye Jason, and thanks again for helping me. I just know that this gunpla we built together will be way better then all of my friends gunpla." The young boy said as he continues to wave good bye to Jason.

_Jason continues to stare at the kids and their father until they're completely out of sight, and now that they are he continues his way home._

"Arghhhh damn it!" Jason yelled as he stopped walking after two steps, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed his sister's number.

"Look before you say whatever it is you called me for, let me just say that I'm sorry for dragging you along with me today. It's your choice to do what you want with your life, and I should support you regardless." Brandon said as she answered the call.

"You remember the particular regional tournament I go to every year right?" Jason asks his sister.

"Yeah why?" Brandon asks as well.

"Print out an entry application and fill it out for me. I'll sign it when I get home." Jason tells his sister.

_Wherever Brandon is on her side of the phone, it sounds like she fell to the ground on it out of shock from what her brother just said._

"Yeah I'll get right on that for you." Brandon happily said.

* * *

_Several days later at a small convention center, one of the local regional qualifier tournaments have finally begun. Thanks to Emika's intense dedication she was able to fully repair the Arios Zeta way before hand._

"Wow there's a lot of people here." Emika said.

"There are actually some pretty good small time fighters I recognize, so it may not be as easy as you think." Alex explained.

"I'll take your….. wait isn't that Alice fighting?" Emika said as she points to a battle system a floor below them.

"You mean Athrun's friend from your model…" Alex was saying when his attention was suddenly drawn by her battle.

_Alice was using an ordinary Qubeley painted white in the color of Haman Karn, and her opponent ironically is using a ZZ Gundam. First Alice blows off the excess equipment on the ZZ Gundam with the Qubeley's funnels, than she cuts off the arms with its beam sabers, and lands the killing blow using her funnels again._

"This girl's funnel control is really good." Alex said with clear excitement in his voice.

"So what if she has good funnel control? She's not that special." Emika said clearly jealous of the attention Alex is giving to Alice.

"Wait….. are you jealous?" Alex asks as he noticed Emika's aforementioned jealousy.

"No." Emika said as she looked away from Alex due to her face turning red with embarrassment.

_Sometime later… perhaps way after the regional tournament ends or just before it ends… it doesn't matter really. Anyways a young Frenchmen is standing on a roof holding a black gunpla._

"So this is where you live? Well get ready I'm coming for you Athrun Castleton!" the young Frenchman declared.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Alex: Oh god Emika these upgrades are amazing.

Emika: I'm glad you're enjoying them, so stop staring at every girl that passes by.

Alex: What?

Emika: …Nothing.

Athrun: Really guys… you're not going to comment on the mysterious Frenchmen who probably came here to challenge me?

Alice: Don't worry I'll take care of that.

Alex: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "The Phantom and The Albion".


	10. The Phantom and The Albion

**Gundam Build Fighters A**

**Chapter 10**

**The Phantom and The Albion**

* * *

_Sadly Alex despite his best efforts was unable to bring the USA gunpla national champion out of his depression, but thankfully a loyal fan succeeded where he failed so now he and Emika can focus all of their energies making winning the regional qualifiers they chose to enter. It's been over a week since this and many other regional qualifier tournaments have started. Thankfully Alex and Emika through their hard work and dedication have made it to the semi-final round despite several challenging opponents, of which will be beginning shortly. Right now they're taking a break and blowing off steam at the convention center food court._

"Thankfully unlike most tournaments they don't have each round right after the other." Alex said as he took a sip of diet soda.

"Well if they did, we'd be screwed without time for repairs." Emika followed.

"That aside I have one question if you don't mind my asking." Alex revealed.

"What is it?" Emika said as she asks the first official question of the chapter.

"Why are you eating fancy fried shrimp and drinking apple cider out of a wine glass?" Alex inquired as his left cheek twitches with annoyance.

_You see the reason for Alex's annoyed reaction was that compared to the other people eating on the semi-dirty food tables in the food court, the one Emika and Alex were sitting on had a small pink cashmere table cloth, fried shrimp with a perfectly golden brown crust, the aforementioned drink in a wine glass, and her maid is holding a thick cloth napkin along with a bottle of the golden liquid like she were a waitress of a fancy restaurant._

"Sorry I was just so nervous about the semi-final match that I forgot to eat breakfast." Emika explained as she continued to munch on the fried shrimp.

"I realize how important this is to my lady, so I prepared this light meal for her in advance. This way she can operate as a navigator to the best of her ability." Emika's maid explained.

"Oh I don't mind the thought of eating a healthy meal, but don't you think you could have made and presented one in a more low key manner? I mean seriously a few of the people here are staring." Alex asks Emika's maid as he points to the aforementioned few people.

"There's no way I can do such a thing. Regardless of the quality of person she chooses as her partner, a high class lady deserves high class treatment whenever possible." Emika's maid said with a serious tone of voice.

"Pa… pa…. pa…. partner?!" a shocked red faced Emika suddenly said after overhearing what her maid said.  
"Oh my lady are you alright? Perhaps I put too much red pepper into the seasoning?" Emika's maid asks her mistress as she offers her the thick cloth napkin she's been holding.

"No….. I'm fine. I don't know what came over me. Say Alex, would you like to try some? I mean partners share what they have don't they?" Emika asks as her face returns to normal while she tries desperately to change the subject.

"No thanks. I don't want our relationship to be based completely upon all of the things that you can do for me that I can't do for you. The pizza you tried bribing me with was more than enough. I want our relationship to be based on the things we both can do for each other." Alex explained.

"Re…. re…. re….. re…. relationship?" Emika stutters as her face turns red again for a moment.

"Well I think anybody in a team should have a good relationship….. otherwise it effects their ability to perform as a team. Besides I want to get along with my new friend." Alex explained.

"Oh…. okay…. if that's all it was. Then speaking of teamwork, you may enjoy the new toy I gave the Arios Zeta after last night's maintenance." Emika said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then hopefully it'll be useful against our next opponent. From what I've managed to dig up on the local Gunpla Battle forums over the internet, he's the type that changes gunpla according to his opponent." Alex revealed.

"Then we'll…. oh look at the TV. They're broadcasting updates about the other regional qualifier tournaments." Emika was saying when she pointed at the TV all of a sudden.

_On that particular television were two announcers, and they were the same two announcers/commentators that were at Alex's first tournament victory and Jason's latest one. Battles from a variety of different regional tournaments can also be seen on the tv screens behind these two announcers._

"Well Gunpla Battle fans from all over the USA, even more surprising than Jason Marsh saying he wouldn't be entering this year's national tournament was him claiming he would be after all." The first announcer said.

"Jason told a local reporter who was able to catch up with him that he was going through a personal affair which he thought would take longer that the national tournament to resolve, and since it resolved itself much sooner he's now free to try and fight to keep his title this year." The second announcer said.

"Some regional tournaments have already come to a close, others are still going on, and a few more have yet to begin. For those of you still with us, we'll be showing you a few clips containing the last few seconds of the final fights of the regional tournaments that have already concluded." The first announcer revealed.

And we'll be starting with none other than Jason Marsh's final match." The second announcer followed.

_The battle system set this particular match to be fought on an open field type battlefield leaving both competitors absolutely no place to hide. Jason is of course using his GN Astray while his opponent is using a Zeydra in Zeheart Galette's color scheme._

"Ha ha ha you chickened out once, and you'll chicken out again with my Zeydra's superior performance. When I defeat you all of my other opponents will just drop out in face of my power!" the Zeydra's pilot arrogantly boasts.

"I'll admit you're at least good enough to have me us the buster sword this way." Jason said as he combines the two halves of the blade into a single weapon once more.

_Now this turns into a straight up charge between Jason and this arrogant pilot and when they're close, the Zeydra's pilot attempts to go for a killing blow with a downwards swing but misses when Jai /son quickly side steps to the left. With the perfect opening, Jason swings the buster sword forward with all of the GN Astray's might and cuts the Zeydra in half._

"But you still aren't that good." Jason said as he stands over the flaming wreck of his opponents Gunpla.

"Battle Ended." the battle system declared.

_The second battle you'll see is the one involving the second strongest gunpla fighter in the country Athrun Castleton. He's doing battle in a simulated city environment with his Flame Saviour against his female opponent's pink frilly Zeta Gundam._

"I don't know how you've managed to sabotage your opponent's over the years, but you aren't getting me!" the Zeta Gundam's pilot yelled as she searches the city streets for Athrun.

_As if angered by this pilot's statement, the Flame Saviour Gundam's_ _Amfortas cannons rip through the building the Zeta Gundam pilot is flying by purposely missing it but immediately getting it to stop._

"You see…. you're just a hack after all, and now I know where you are." The Zeta Gundam's pilot arrogantly yelled as she's about to dash through a dark alleyway.

_Just as that pilot was about to dash through the dark alleyway when one of the Saviour's beam sabers came flying out though the Zeta Gundam's pilot was able to dodge by ducking down low. _

"Maybe I should show you a new trick I added to my gunpla courtesy of the Infinite Justice gundam." Athrun said with clear signs of anger in his voice.

"Impossible the Griffon beam blades?" the Zeta Gundam's pilot said as a beam saber appeared on the Saviour's leg.

_Using the modified beam blade attached to his Saviour's leg, Athrun literally kicks his opponent in half._

"You shouldn't talk about things you know nothing about, and…. his Zeta was way stronger than yours." Athrun declared as he stands over the flaming wreck of his opponent's Gunpla.

_For the next few minutes a variety of gunpla can be seen trying to destroy each other, of which Alex happens to recognize some of the fighters but the last one a dark skinned fighter he doesn't recognize seems to have gotten his attention the most._

"Strange…" Alex mumbled as he was still lost in thought.

"What is?" Emika asks as she takes notice of Alex's strange look.

"The announcers said that 'Samurai Boy' has been only taking part of Gunpla Battles for a month…. Bull." Alex explained.

"What do you mean?" a confused Emika asked.

"The performance of that custom Hyaku Shiki, and the sharpness of those manuvers….. there's no way that guy only has a month of battle experience." Alex answered.

"Maybe that's also why this boy is being called an 'Early Genius'." Emika pointed out.

"Oh I don't have a problem with it. I'm just excited to have a chance to fight a prodigy, and that Alice girl too if we both win our next match." Alex said as he clenched his fists.

"So you're willing to do it with any girl?" Emika asks as her jealousy starts to stir.

"Only if they're strong." Alex said as he completely missed the context of the question.

"Hen…" Emika was saying.

"Would Emika Kurihara and Alex Thomas please report to the battle floor." A female voice was saying over a PA system.

"Hold that thought… it looks like it's time for our match to begin." Alex was saying.

* * *

_Once they arrived at their assigned battle system, it really started to hit them that only 2 more obstacles stood in their way. If they were able to overcome them they would be in the National competition, and hopefully after that the world tournament. _

"So what was the new toy you added to the Arios Zeta?" Alex asks.

"Here….." Emika said as she pulled out the Arios Zeta.

"Is that the Zeta Gundam's BOWA beam rifle and the Arios's Twin Beam Rifle? But they both look a little different." Alex said as he examined the Arios Zeta up close.

"Inspiration courtesy of the Buster Gundam. The two weapons can be combined to form an enhanced beam rifle with a unique additional feature depending on what combination you use." Emika explained.

"And I retain the option of using them separately, of which fits my dual wielding preference. Nice job Emika." Alex said pleased with the upgrades as he pats Emika on the top of her head much to her enjoyment.

"Field 5, City. Please set your Gunpla." The battle system ordered.

_This wasn't any peaceful city before it was hit by war like the start of most Gundam series, but rather it was a city that had already seen the cruel realities of it. Rather than a clean city line with cars and people, it was a dirty one lined with rubble from destroyed buildings, remnants of damaged mobile suits, husks of cars charred black with fire, and collapsed buildings that are only still standing upright because they're leaning against each other._

"Battle start." The battle system declared.

"Arios Zeta!" Alex yelled.

"We're heading out!" Emika yelled.

_The moment the Arios Zeta was out of the simulated catapult, it ducked behind the largest collection of still standing buildings it could for cover like how it did with the forest and Emika's data gathering battle._

"Did you catch a glimpse of our opponent's gunpla before the battle started?" Alex asks.

"I think it was a….." Emika was saying.

_Suddenly Emika was interrupted by a small concentrated beam melting through the building the Arios Zeta was flying by, but thankfully it fired a few seconds too late or maybe the Arios Zeta was a too seconds to fast still… it ended up missing._

"A sniper type huh?" Alex mumbled as he carefully stared through the hole created in the building, and noticed the beam went through several other buildings.

"As I was saying I think it was a Cherudim Gundam with the modifications it received near the end of the second season." Emika revealed.

"Then at this distance we shouldn't have to worry about the rifle bits harassing us." Alex pointed out as he continues to have the Arios Zeta dodge continuous sniper fire.

"Do you have a plan?" Emika inquired.

"I'm actually already doing it." Alex revealed.

"Then do you mind letting me in on the party in your brain?" Emika asks.

"I've been purposely going back and forth between these last few streets." Alex started explaining.

"Why?" a curious Emika asked.

"So I can get a beat on where he's firing from, and I'd say given the angles of these blast holes he's firing from the same general area. The next part depends on the exact nature of the newest toy you added to our gunpla." Alex explained.

"What do you need to know?" Emika asked again.

"When you said that you got idea from the Buster Gundam….. does that also mean you included a…" Alex was saying.

"Yes I did include that." Emika said interrupting Alex as she realized where he was leading the conversation.

"Good….. now hold on tight as we're hitting the skies." Alex said as he has the Arios Zeta climb to the sky as fast as possible.

_The battle field was still the same ruined cityscape it was when the Arios Zeta took to the skies. Alex and Emika saw in the distance that is to say the boundaries beyond the battle field some sections of the ruined city still enflamed. Regardless their focus was on the Cherudim Gundam._

"Combine the two beam rifles." Emika suggested.

"Understood." Alex said as he listened to the advice of his operator.

"Other way around." Emika said as she noticed Alex was about to put the beam rifle together in the wrong combination.

"Sorry… now come on and take the bait. You know you want to even if you know we're doing this to find you." Alex said to Emika before he started mumbling to himself like he was having a conversation with his opponent even though he actually wasn't.

_As if perfectly timed with Alex's statement, a beam is seen flying towards the Arios Zeta from its right flank, but Alex is quickly able to dodge._

"Got you!" Alex yelled as he got the Cherudim Gundam within his sniper scope before firing a shot off himself in response.

"Oh crap." The Cherudim's pilot said as he tried to change positions.

_But it was already too late for seconds after he realized the oncoming attack, Alex's shot given its angle took out the Cherudim's head and a small portion of its upper body._

"Battle ended." The battle system declared.

_Not even bothering with looking at the face of their defeated opponent, Emika picks up the Arios Zeta and she and Alex take their leave. Emika insisted on leaving and just going home, but Alex convinced her to watch the other semi-final match with Alice Guide from Athrun and Emika's school's model building club._

"Hmph…" Emika pouts as she and Alex moved up one floor to watch Alice's next fight.

"What's wrong?" Alex asks as she takes notice of Emika's strange mood.

"My lady thinks there's no reason to watch a match of someone she already considers a threat outside of Gunpla Battles." Emika's maid explained.

"What do you mean outside of Gunpla Battles?" Alex curiously asks.

"No don't say any more….. I just I don't understand why you're so intrigued by Alice. She isn't anyone special." Emika suddenly explained as she covered her maid's mouth for a few moments to prevent her from saying another word.

"Funnels and bits are perhaps the most difficult type of weapon to control in the game. Compared to scenes in the Gundam anime, animated photo novels, and different video games the guys that use them in the World Tournament can only use them at a half decent level. Alice however has funnel control skill at what should be the norm for the World Tournament, but I admit that may be a premature statement since I haven't fought her myself yet." Alex explained.

"So you have absolutely no interest in her past her funnel control skills?" Emika inquired.

"Not really no, and so far she's proving my point in this fight." Alex explained as Alice's next match was already underway.

"Oh thank goodness." Emika whispers to herself as she breathes a sigh of relief.

"Check it out it looks like the semi-final match is about to start." Alex pointed out.

_Alice due to a lack of previously given physical description is a high school sophomore, with white hair, purple red eyes, she appears to be the same height as Emika if not a little taller, is wearing a black blouse, with a white undershirt, black pants, matching shoes, and she appears to have a serious yet at the same time emotionless expression on her face._

"What do you know about Alice?" Alex asks Emika.

"Other than overhearing her mention once that she's from Finland….. nothing." Emika answered.

"Then hopefully this match will reveal more about who she is then her previous ones." Alex strongly hoped.

_And now it's time for some pre battle banter._

"I hear you're a member of Clancy Academy's model building club." Alice's male opponent said.

"Yes….. what of it?" Alice retorts.

"Nothing. I just heard that your club is filled to the brim with strong fighters, so I'm excited at the chance to beat one of their members." Alice's opponent explained.

"You shouldn't give yourself false hope. Only two people have ever beaten me, and there are only 7 other fighters in the world who might be able to beat me." Alice boldly yet still emotionlessly declared.

"Oh I wonder who those fighters are." Alex said as a battle excited smile appeared on his face.

"Don't you think that's pretty arrogant for Alice to say?" Emika asked.

"No….. I can tell from the look in her eyes that she's being honest not arrogant." Alex explained.

"Please set your GP Base. Beginning Plavsky particle dispersal." The battle system informed in its familiar monotone voice.

"Those are bold words…. I hope you can back them up." Alice's opponent retorts.

"Make no mistake this isn't a bold assumption, but a declaration of truth." Alice pointed out.

"Field 1, Space. Please set your Gunpla." the battle system ordered.

"Now will it be Alice…. or the unknown guy she's facing?" Alex thought.

"Battle Start." The battle system declared.

"Alice Guide, Qubeley. Here I come!" Alice yelled as she flew out of her simulated catapult.

"AGE-FX, launching!" Alice's opponent yelled as he flew out of his simulated cockpit.

_This "Space" battlefield was for the most part just that… purely mostly open space. Save for the husks of a few destroyed ships there are no places to hide and several angles of approach for an attack. This means it'll be a straight out fight between both parties._

"I have somewhere I need to be, so I'm afraid I'll have to end this battle quickly." Alice declared.

"Don't underestimate me. I'm not that weak." Alice's opponent counterclaimed.

_Alice's opponent launched the full fury of his FX Gundam's C-Funnels and Stungle Rifle, but it does little to deter her as Alice continues to proceed towards her opponent at full speed. Now how will her opponent counter in this situation?_

"Let's see how you like the Daidal Bazooka!" Alice's opponent yelled as he puts the aforementioned attachment on the Stungle rifle.

_Even this enhanced beam weapon does little to nothing to Alice, however all it's able to do is simply force her to dodge in one direction for a few seconds longer as she continues her advance._

"A melee battle huh?" Alice's opponent mumbled.

_The reason Alice's opponent said that was because Alice herself drew her beam sabers when she was only a few feet away from him, so in response he drew one of his own expecting this battle to switch over to a CQC format. Expecting Alice to fly right into the path of his blade, her opponent went for a downwards slash but at the last minute Alice flew straight up like she knew just far he could reach with his beam saber._

"You say I shouldn't underestimate you, but you are just that weak." Alice said.

"Wha…. Oh crap." Alice's opponent said out of shock after he returned his gunpla's head to its standard position after staring at Alice flying above him for a few seconds.

_Now the reason for that particular piece of inappropriate language was that Alice's opponent saw all 10 of her Qubeley's funnels staring him straight in the face, but it was too late to dodge for by the time he realized his situations the funnels were already blasting him to pieces and bringing this battle to a close._

"Battle ended." The battle system declared.

"That last move was genius." Alex said as he's stirred even further with excitement.

"You understood that? Everything was moving so fast that I just lost track." Emika said.

"Our eyes are instinctively drawn to unusual objects or dangerous ones that move within their line of site. Alice took advantage of that when she made her opponent perceive her beam sabers as the biggest threat allowing her to deploy her funnels up close unnoticed." Alex explained.

"Wow….. look like I said before I still don't understand the nature of battle despite having watched so many. So because of that I ask; where would you rate her abilities as a fighter?" Emika curiously asked.

"Her ability is at least at the Elite 4 level." Alex answered.

"What do you mean 'at least'?" Emika asked again.

"I don't know….. I'm still not completely sure yet, but I get the feeling Alice is holding back." Alex explained.

"I see…. well if there's nothing else can we go home now?" Emika followed.

"Yeah sure… unless there's anything else you want to do." Alex said.

* * *

_But there wasn't anything else Emika wanted to do, so now she could finally go home and let the day's events soak in. Alex and Emika….. her maid withstanding walked together in silence at least until they reached the parking lot due to their being nothing they actually want to talk about._

"My lady…. about your mother's request." Emika's maid whispers in her lady's ears as if to remind her about a forgotten issue.

"Ah yes thanks for reminding me. Alex….. do you have a moment?" Emika whispers back to her maid before getting the attention of the aforementioned young man.

"What's up?" Alex retorts.

"As I've mentioned to you before my mother is only allowing me to take part in Gunpla Battles since I'm not fighting directly myself." Emika started explained.

"Yeah you've told me that before." Alex replied.

"You see she wants to get to know the person that's my partner. So she told me to ask you if you could come to dinner tomorrow at my home. Can you?" Emika forced herself to ask Alex due to the sheer internal embarrassment it caused her.

"Can't sorry." Alex quickly responds.

"Now see here… my lady's given you the courtesy of inviting you into her own home for a meal, so the least you can do is go." Emika's maid said feeling insulted by Alex's response.

"It's not that I don't understand the courtesy behind it. It's just that I simply can't go because I have family visiting from another country tomorrow, but I'd be willing any time after the regional tournament is over. Besides tomorrow is also my….." Alex explained.

"Tomorrow is your what?" Emika inquired.

"That part is nothing important." Alex followed.

"I see….. then I apologize for my premature statement from before." Emika's miad said as she at least attempts to offer a vain apology to Alex.

"Don't worry about it." Alex said not bothered in the least by the behavior of Emika's maid.

"My lady…. our ride is here." Emika's maid said alerting her mistress and Alex to the presence of a limo in which happened to stop right in front of them.

"Ladies first." Alex said as he plays the role of the courteous gentleman by holding the limo door open for Emika.

"Thank you. Would you like a ride home?" Emika asks.

"No thanks." Alex answered.

"Are you sure?" Emika asks again.

"I'd miss out on the chance to use my bus pass, so hurry home and don't worry about me." Alex said with a smile.

_Alex waved good bye to his partner in crime as she drove off, and in turn Emika continued to wave back until he was out of sight in the rear view mirror. Emika turned around and sat normally in her seat once he saw Alex in the distance start to walk away._

"Arghh why did I act that way in front of him?" Emika mumbled to herself as she curled up in her seat out of embarrassment.

"I may have a theory about that, but….. you may not like what I have to say." Emika's maid revealed as she readjusts her glasses.

"No go ahead and speak your mind. You've been a friend to me for years, so you have that right." Emika retorts.

"Your heart stirs whenever he walks into the room, your heart aches whenever he shows attention to another woman, so I can only conclude that you've seemed to have developed a crush on him." Emika's maid bluntly explains.

"Cru…. Cru…. Cru…. there's no way that could be the case, though granted I still don't know what's causing those weird feelings." Emika said as her face turned red with embarrassment again.

"Yes well personal feelings aside….. You do realize that things could change for the worse if he ever finds out that you were the one who ruined his life all those years ago right?" Emika's maid asks her lady with a serious tone of voice as she adjusts her glasses again.

"I already knew that, and… I also know that he'll have the right to hate me with every fiber of his being should he ever find out the truth." Emika said as her expression changed from one of embarrassment to one of a solemn sadness.

* * *

_And now as the limo with the main female protagonist inside drives away, this day has finally come to an end. The events of the next day shall be a completely different story. Since the following day was a weekend it left Alex and Brandon free to hang out for most of it, but strangely enough Brandon went through a great deal effort to get Alex to hang out with her at all and to keep him from going home throughout that day. Right now they're actually walking home as they're only a block or two away._

"Look I'm really sorry about accidently spilling that water on your shirt." Brandon said as she apologized to Alex.

"It was just an accident, so don't worry about it. I'm just glad I had a spare shirt in my backpack." Alex said as he patted the aforementioned type of carrying case.

"I still can't believe I talked you into going hiking with me." Brandon said as she starts to recall the day's events.

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into going hiking." Alex smiles as he apparently very much enjoyed the day's events.

"Well it's good for your health to go out and sweat every now and again. You lose weight, build up your endurance, and it helps you grow." Brandon said like she was a P.E teacher for a moment.

"You're one to talk about growing seeing as how you're fla…" Alex was saying.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Brandon yelled as she interrupted Alex by stomping on his foot.

"Oww…. Yes mam." Alex said as he tried to hold in the pain.

"Now how much farther are we from your place?" Brandon asks.

"You've been to my home, so you should already know that. Anyways it should only be eight more… okay I see what's going on here." Alex was saying as he looks down the street and notices several cars parked around his house.

_The remaining short walk home was uneventful as Brandon and Alex sat or rather stood in silence as the case may be. As he and Brandon physically enter his home, Alex notices that all of the lights are off._

"Let's see my cousins, aunts, uncles, and friend's cars are parked outside. The house is silent and all the lights are off, so I wonder….." Alex was saying like he already had a hunch on what's going on.

_And as Alex likely already suspected… the lights suddenly turned back on, people emerge from hiding places, and streamers start flying out of little handheld confetti cannons._

"Happy birthday!" all the people who came out of hiding yelled.

"Yup a surprise party like I thought." Alex mumbled.

_The people Alex saw in the crowd of party goers and well givers were his mother, his aunts, his uncles, his counts, and his friends like he saw with all of the cars parked outside. Among his friends that were here Brandon withstanding were a few nameless characters, Brandon's brother Jason, Athrun for some reason was here, for what must likely be an even stranger reason so was Alice, and of course Emika the female protagonist was here._

"Oh I hope you've enjoyed the surprise son, and thank you Brandon for keeping him busy for most of the day." Alex's mother said as she walked up to her son and her friend.

"No prob Mrs. Thomas." Brandon said like a typical tomboy.

"Yeah definitely didn't see that coming until right before the surprise. Hmm where's Ansel? I thought he would be here by now." Alex gratefully said to the crowd of people before asking his mother a question.

"Ansel….. no the first name must just be a coincidence only." Athrun thought apparently due to recognizing the first name.

"Ha….. I'll laugh if it's actually who I think it is." Jason thought due to apparently recognizing the name as well.

"Your father last told me that he picked him up at the airport and is on his way home, but that was an hour ago so he should be here soon." Alex's mom explains.

"Oh okay." Alex responds.

"Now go on and talk to your friends, so I can go ahead and talk to mine." Alex's mom said as she gently nudged her son.

_With a wide variety of party food now on their plates, Alex's friends and Alice journey to the backyard where tables have been set up so as to have some polite conversation. Emika is sitting next to Alex who is sitting next to Athrun who is sitting next to Alice who is sitting next to Brandon who is sitting next to her brother. Once they actually walk outside, they or rather Alex discovers that his parents have rented a couple of portable battle systems along with a Gunpla rental service for his birthday, to which is a service the kids at the party are already most enthralled with._

"I get Jason being here because of being Brandon's brother, but Athrun and Alice why are you two here?" Alex asks the odd man and odd woman out.

"I'm just here for the free food." Jason informed before continuing to munch on his salt and pepper fried chicken.

"Truthfully the same, but that's no reason we all still can't enjoy ourselves." Athrun says out of an attempt at some polite humor.

"And you Alice?" Alex asks.

_It should be noted that for some strange reason Alice has the exact same food items on her plate as Athrun, and they're even in the same position on the plate._

"I'm here to get a better understanding on his ability to predict in battle." Alice explained as she ate her food with one hand and pointed to Athrun in the other.

"It's a long story, but suffice to say unless I tell her otherwise she likes to follow me around when we both have free time." Athrun interjects.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me yesterday that it was your birthday today. Why didn't you tell me?" Emika asks with an annoyed look on her face.

"Truthfully….. I thought that you'd think a simple party such as this would be beneath you, so I didn't want to waste your time by asking." Alex explained.

"It wouldn't be a waste of time, and you should have already known that. We're supposed to be friends and partners, so you should be able to trust me with things like this." Emika said as she lectured Alex on the errors of his ways.

"Sorry….. I guess you're right." A guilty Alex responds.

"Psst…. Speaking of inviting…. I thought I told you not to invite Emika." Brandon whispers to her brother.

"Oh I thought you said to make sure that I invite her. Anyways…. why does it matter that I did?" Jason whispers back.

"Because for at least today…. I didn't want to deal with any competition." Brandon whispers back herself with a jealous tone of voice.

"Sigh… you and your romantic troubles." Jason thought.

"Oh your home dad." Alex said as he noticed his father walking into the backyard.

"Alex come on and greet your cousin." Alex's father said as a certain Frenchman walked into the back yard.

_The moment this mysterious Frenchman walked into the back yard Brandon and Athrun stood up in shock due to clearly recognizing the person, but Jason was indifferent though he did recognize him._

"I don't believe it." Athrun says to reiterate the earlier shock.

"It really is him." Brandon says again to reiterate that concept of shock.

"Ansel mon cousin, il est bon de vous revoir." Alex said to his cousin in French as he gave him a bro hug.

"Je suis heureux de vous revoir ainsi." Ansel said in French as well as he returned his cousin's bro hug.

"Comment était le vol?" Alex asks.

"Sans intérêt sauf pour le film en vol." Ansel answered.

"Um… what is he talking about?" Emika asks apparently due to not knowing a word of French.

"They were exchanging greeting, then Alex asked how the flight was, and Ansel responded that it was uninteresting save for the in-flight movie." Alice translates proving herself to be fluent in or at least have some understanding of the French language.

"Everyone this is my cousin from my mom's side of the family Ansel, and Ansel save for Athrun's friend Alice and my new friend Emika here you already know everyone." Alex said.

"It is nice to see such fierce competition again, and it's also nice to see two beautiful flowers such as yourselves." Ansel says with a heavy French accent as he tries to flirt with Emika and Alice.

_This mysterious Frenchman is of the same height of Alex, with pale white skin, grey eyes, shoulder length blond hair, bushy eye brows, a pointed nose, and very thin lips. Ansel is wearing a jungle style camouflage short-sleeved shirt, matching pants, and a pair of dark brown loafers._

"You speak French?" Emika asks Alex out of amazement.

"My mother taught me how to speak French fluently. You see even though she hides the accent well my mom was born in France." Alex answered.

"I can't believe he's your cousin, and you've never told me." Brandon still says out of shock.

"Yes well it's certainly a surprise, but there's no reason to make a show of it." Athrun follows.

"Wait…. you all know him?" Emika asked as she was rendered in a state of confusion by the current situation.

"Mon cousin, pensez-vous qu'il serait préférable que je me présente officiellement à votre ami afin de remédier à sa confusion?" Ansel asks his cousin.

"Je suis d'accord, alors n'hésitez pas." Alex answered.

"My name is Ansel Labossière, the winner of this year's French Gunpla Battle national tournament, and the man who has kept Jason Marsh out of the top 16 for the last 3 world tournaments." Ansel said as he formally introduced himself.

"You've beaten Jason?" a shocked Emika asked Ansel.

"They were close fights." Jason interjects.

"But I still won in the end did I not." Ansel followed.

"Why are you here?" Jason asks.

"For one thing I wanted to visit my cousin on his birthday this year, and the other is rather convenient since you're here monsieur Athrun." Ansel explained.

"Me?" Athrun said.

"Yes… I'm familiar with the reputation you have monsieur Athrun." Ansel said.

"Are you the one of the ones who believe I'm a cheater? Or are you one the rare few that don't?" Athrun asks in response.

"I believe in neither fact because I know not your side of the story. You see I've always wanted to how you Americans say test my mettle against you, but sadly fate did not pair us together for a dance at the last three world tournaments." Ansel explained.

"It's nice to see someone who's willing to withhold judgment for once." Athrun said as a slight grin appeared on his face.

"Yes…. with the convenience of these portable battle systems and you being at my cousin's birthday party, it has saved me the trouble of scouring the city for you. So what do you say monsieur Athrun? Do you accept my challenge?" Ansel said as he issues Athrun a letter of challenge.

"I won't allow it." Alice said as she gained the attention of everyone at the table by slamming her hand on it.

"Pardon me mademoiselle, but this challenge does not concern you." Ansel said as he turned his attention to Alice.

"If you're challenging Athrun… then it does concern me. I won't allow anyone that I haven't acknowledged to challenge Athrun in my presence." Alice declared.

"Then is a duel with you monsieur Athrun's chevalier a way to gain your approval?" Ansel inquires of Alice.

"Provided you win." Alice retorts.

"Maintenant il suffit de tenir une minute Ansel, vous ne pensez pas que vous allez trop loin?" Alex asks his cousin.

"Cousin, si c'est ce que je dois faire pour que j'ai l'intention qu'il en soit ainsi." Ansel responds.

"Fine, but just try not to act so arrogant this time." Alex said as he decided to stop objecting to the battle.

"Now that I have the birthday boy's approval, know mademoiselle Alice that you face the gunpla that has defeated your national champion… my Phantom Noir Gundam," Ansel said as he took it out of his gunpla case for all to see.

"Then you'll be a good test for my overhauled gunpla, the Kshatriya Albion." Alice said as she did the same.

_Several minutes later after a series of intense clashes, narrow misses, a couple of back ground conversations, and a shocking revelation or two the Gunpla Battle between Alice Guide and Ansel Labossière has finally reached an end._

"Battle ended." The battle system declared.

"I…. lost?" a shocked Ansel asks himself as he still can't believe what's just occurred.

_Not unlike with Carlos Kaiser and his crushing and humiliating defeat inflicted upon him by Aila Jyrkiäinen, Ansel hunched over the portable battle system placing both hands on it as he stared at the remnants of his Phantom Noir Gundam. How did things get to that point you ask? Well let me just say that the answer is…_

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Jason: Is this going to be like episode 8 of the anime with the entire fight being skipped over?

Alex: Don't worry the author fully intends to show the details of the fight.

Brandon: Yeah he just wanted to build curiosity about the beginning and the middle by revealing what happened at the end right off the bat.

Athrun: Besides there's certain details about Alice's past that relate to what's to come.

Alex: Next time on Gundam Build Fighters A "The Phantom and The Albion II"

Alice: This is all necessary for me to be able to defeat her!

**Author Note: For those of you who can't speak French... use google translate. **


End file.
